Bronny James is expected to return to action Wednesday when the Lakers’ summer league team concludes play in the California Classic tournament in San Francisco after being not playing in a game due to some trace swelling in his left knee.
“Taking it day-by-day, just being precautionary about it,” South Bay Lakers coach Dane Johnson, who is coaching the team, said after Sunday’s 92-68 loss to the Golden State Warriors’ summer league team that dropped the team’s record to 0-2.
“The plan is for him to play (Wednesday).”
A Lakers spokesman confirmed to City News Service on Tuesday that James is expected to play.
The 4 p.m. game against the Miami Heat’s summer league team (1-1) from Chase Center will be televised by ESPN2.
The Heat’s roster includes 7-foot-center Kel’el Ware, the 15th choice in last month’s NBA draft after playing at Oregon and Indiana, forwards Cole Swider, who played seven games for the Lakers in the 2022-23 season and 18 for Miami in the 2023-24 season, guard Pelle Larsson, the 44th player chosen in the draft after playing at Utah and Arizona, and Keshad Johnson, a starter on San Diego State’s 2022-23 team that reached the national championship game.
Johnson completed his college career at Arizona.
The team will begin play in the NBA Summer League on Friday against the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas.
Bronny James played his first game as a Laker on Saturday, scoring four points in 21 minutes, 43 seconds in a 108-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings’ summer league team in a California Classic game.
The second-round choice in last month’s draft and oldest son of LeBron James made 2 of 9 shots, including missing all three 3-point shots, missed both free throws, pulled down two rebounds and had two assists.
“Every first game that I step on the next level there’s always some butterflies in my stomach, but as soon as the ball tips and we go a couple times down it all goes away and I’m just playing basketball,” said James, the 55th overall selection. “It’s always going to be there but get through it.”
The elder James, training in Las Vegas with the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team, said before the completion of Saturday’s game that his son’s summer statistics don’t matter.
“I just hope for (him to get) his feet wet in the NBA — the pace of the game, the speed of the game, the physicality of the game,” the elder James said. “But what he does in the California Classic and Summer League, it doesn’t matter if he plays well and it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t play well. I just want him to continue to grow. Practices, film sessions, his individual workouts.”
Bronny James made himself eligible for the NBA draft after averaging 4.8 points per game in his lone season at USC. He played 490 minutes over 25 games with six starts for the Trojans. The 6-foot-2-inch, 210-pound guard missed the first eight games of the season while recovering from a medical procedure to treat a congenital heart defect.