The Los Angeles Lakers are sure to be under the microscope this upcoming season as they usher in the JJ Redick era. There’s always eyes on a LeBron James team, but that’s not the only reason why fans will be tuning in. The Lakers are preparing for the debut of Bronny James’ rookie season, and he’s already drawn plenty of attention including having his debut NBA Summer League jersey sell for an astronomical price at a recent auction as per Ian Casselberry of Yahoo Sports.
The jersey that Bronny James wore in his initial Summer League game sold for a whopping $38,400 at one of Sotheby’s Summer League Selects auctions. That was much more compared to some of the top picks in the 2024 Draft.
No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher’s game debut jersey sold for $3,360. No. 3 overall pick Reed Shepard’s jersey sold for $15,600. But Bronny’s jersey auction was not on par with 2023 No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs’ franchise cornerstone saw his Summer League debut jersey sell for $62,020.
Bronny had a so-so Summer League debut after being selected by the Lakers with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He ssigned a four-year contract with the Lakers worth a little over $7 million.
Bronny James’ rookie debut with Lakers approaching
NBA training camps open at the end of the month and with it will come Bronny James’ official regular season debut. He isn’t expected to play a major role though or feature much in the Lakers rotation this upcoming season.
It’s assumed that Bronny will spend most of this season getting playing time with the South Bay Lakers, the Lakers G League affiliate. He does have a standard contract though as his camp made it clear that he would not be signing a two-way contract.
Lakers fans got their first look at Bronny during NBA Summer League both in Sacramento and in Las Vegas. He appeared in six games for the Lakers across both venues, averaging 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals. He shot 32.7 percent from the field, 13 percent from the three-point line and 62.5 percent from the free-throw line.
He started off slowly, but near the end of summer league he had his best game with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the Lakers first win of the event.
Bronny played only one season at USC before declaring for the NBA Draft while simultaneously entering the transfer portal. He opted to keep his name in the draft rather than return to school.
