"JJ Redick needs him" - NBA fans urge for Bronny James' return on Lakers after impressive G League performance
While Bronny James' brief stint with the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of the season may not have been overly impressive, the second-generation hooper has found his rhythm in the NBA G League. After dropping a 30-point outing earlier this month, James put on an impressive showing with the South Bay Lakers on Thursday.
In the team's 98-90 win over the Charlotte Hornets' G League affiliate Greensboro Swarm, James logged 16 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals despite turning the ball over six times.
Considering Bronny has been finding his rhythm and has shown flashes of brilliance over the past few weeks, fans want to see him return to the LA Lakers' bench.
After a Lakers fan page posted James' latest stat line on X, formerly known as Twitter, fans were quick to weigh in:
"JJ Redick needs him," one wrote.
"About to take Gabe’s minutes," another said.
Others kept the jokes coming:
"Better than D'Lo and Gabe," one said.
"WHERE ALL THE HATERS IT I DON’T SEE YOU," one wrote.
"Bron wasn’t lying when he said Bronny better than dudes he saw on league pass. Bronny the truth," another added.
JJ Redick believes once Bronny James becomes OK with failing, his career will take off
While Bronny James has been putting up numbers in the NBA's G League, there's still one thing that LA coach JJ Redick believes he needs to overcome to unlock his true potential.
On Tuesday, Redick spoke about how Bronny essentially had a camera on him throughout his basketball journey. Since he was a young player, there has been considerable attention around Bronny James because of his last name.
The way Redick sees things, with that comes internal pressure and reservations about failure.
"He's got to get to the point where it's OK to fail," Redick said. ... "He's had attention on him, I'm cognizant of that. I think, once he develops that, he's going to take off.
"He will do anything we ask him to do and he's done everything we've asked him to do. Part of player development is not just the physical skills and the physical development, it is the mental development, as well."
With Bronny preparing for the next G League game, it's unlikely he'll rejoin the LA Lakers this week. Once he does, however, many fans, including rapper Lil Wayne, believe he'll be the x-factor LA needs late in the season.