Los Angeles Lakers associate head coach Nate McMillan set big expectations for LeBron James‘ son, second-year guard Bronny James, for the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season.
“I love Bronny. Great young man and we expect him to possibly get some minutes this year,” McMillan said on “The Sports Shop with Reese and K-Mac” on Aug. 5.
It is a tall order for the second-year guard after the Lakers reloaded this offseason. They just added former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to their backcourt. Smart joins Lakers stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and backup guard Gabe Vincent in that loaded backcourt.
However, McMillan is bullish about Bronny’s chances to court time after overcoming adversities during his rookie year.
Bronny is the most scrutinized 55th overall pick in NBA history. But after his NBA career got off to a slow start, Bronny finished his rookie season strong.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth from year one,” McMillan said of Bronny. “He had, I thought, a really good Summer League this year. A young guy like that coming in with this type of pressure that he came into the league with last year was unbelievable.
“When we played in the Las Vegas Summer League last year and this year, his games were sold out to see him. The fanbase has really, I think, for the most part, been really supportive of him.”
Bronny’s Growth
Bronny showed marked improvement in his second NBA Summer League, averaging 14.2 points on 47.6% shooting, 3.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds. Last year, he only averaged 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists while hitting just 35.0% from the field.
“He spent a lot of time in the G League this season and I really feel that helped him because when he came out into this Summer League… you could see the confidence,” McMillan said. “He was much more relaxed than he was last year. Everybody would have been as nervous as can be last season, but he was much more relaxed this season.”
Bronny gained confidence in the G League last season, averaging 21.9 points on a 44/38/82 shooting split, with 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals across 11 games.
“His shot was never broken, but the confidence, you could see he was knocking down those shots, getting to the basket,” McMillan said. “Defensively, we wanted him to challenge himself to pick up the ball.”
Bronny finished his rookie season with modest averages of 2.3 points in 6.7 minutes across 27 games, including one start.
JJ Redick’s Challenge
That single start in his young career opened things up for Bronny.
Down four starters, including his father, Bronny stepped up and co-led the Lakers in scoring with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with five assists and three rebounds in 30 minutes in a 118-89 loss to Milwaukee in March.
Towards the end of the first half, Bronny found himself cross-switched with Antetokounmpo. Instead of getting intimidated by the former MVP, Bronny became audacious as he dribbled behind his back past Antetokounmpo to the delight of the home crowd before losing the ball out of bounds. It was Bronny’s second of four turnovers, a wrinkle to his game that he needs to clean up.
The 21-year-old guard averaged 4.0 turnovers in the NBA Summer League. But it’s the least of coach JJ Redick’s concerns heading into his second season in the pro league.
Redick laid out what Bronny has to do to earn his stripes in the NBA.
“The biggest thing for Bronny is that he has to get in elite shape,” Redick told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin in July. “That’s the barrier of entry for him right now. And if he does that, I think he’s got a chance to be a really fantastic player in the NBA.”
