Bronny James followed up his best game at Summer League with another solid effort, and the result was another win for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 55th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft posted 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, five rebounds, three assists and three turnovers in a 93-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, his second straight game with double-digit points after beginning his professional career shooting 22.6% from the field and 0-for-15 on 3-pointers.
Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round draft pick, posted 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting with seven rebounds.
James broke his cold streak at the perimeter in his previous game and again found the net on a 3-pointer Thursday, hitting a clutch triple late in the fourth quarter.
BRONNY STEP BACK THREE IN CRUNCH TIME (via @espn)pic.twitter.com/rzyrKJVQdt
Ball Dont Lie (@Balldontlie) July 19, 2024
There was also this basket, which ESPN believed was definitely an intentional fake and not just James getting caught in a moment of indecision after picking up his dribble and getting caught alone at mid-range.
Bronny lost him with the fake pic.twitter.com/TOpEd3dyPH
ESPN (@espn) July 19, 2024
In case you were wondering, no, the ESPN X account didn’t tweet a single other highlight from Summer League on Thursday.
Thanks to his superstar father LeBron James and the prospect of making history together, James has drawn more interest than any second-round pick in Summer League history, but his run of six games hasn’t done much to justify the idea that he’s a bona fide NBA player. Then again, Summer League has never been known as a perfect barometer of a player’s NBA future.
James, Knecht and the rest of the Summer League Lakers will play their final game Saturday against the Chicago Bulls.
July 6: 4 points (2-of-9 shooting, 0-of-3 on 3-pointers), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, 22 minutes in 108-94 loss to Sacramento Kings
July 7: out with knee swelling in 92-68 loss to Golden State Warriors
July 10: 3 points (1-of-3 shooting, 0-of-1 on 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 29 minutes in 80-76 loss to Miami Heat
July 12: 8 points (3-of-14 shooting, 0-of-8 on 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 turnovers, 27 minutes in 99-80 loss to Houston Rockets
July 15: 2 points (1-of-5 shooting, 0-of-3 on 3-pointers), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 25 minutes in 88-74 loss to Boston Celtics
July 17: 12 points (5-of-11 shooting, 2-of-5 on 3-pointers), 1 rebound, 0 assists, 1 turnovers, 24 minutes in 87-86 win over Atlanta Hawks.
July 18: 13 points (5-of-10 shooting, 1-of-3 on 3-pointers), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 25 minutes in 93-89 win over Cleveland Cavaliers