It seems like up until this point, the biggest debate about Bronny James is where should he be playing. Well, he finally made his return to the G-League and he temporarily muted his critics.
James scored a G League career-high 31 points in the South Bay Lakers’ 122-110 win against the Rip City Remix Friday, Jan. 25. It had been a while since we’ve seen Bronny in G-League action, and he was obviously ready to go. James led South Bay to its second victory of the season by hitting 5 of 11 3-pointers to go along with his new career high. The G League Lakers are second-to-last in the Western Conference with a record of 2-7. This is the first G-League game Bronny has played in since Dec. 21.
The highlight of the night was without a doubt James’ poster dunk. James took the ball up the court late in the third quarter of South Bay’s game against the Rip City Remix, dribbled it past a screen from his teammate Christian Koloko, and drove down the lane for a massive drunk over Sterling Manley that would have made father LeBron proud. As Rip City took a timeout, James and his teammates celebrated his spectacular play, which knotted the score at 80. Motivated by the poster dunk, South Bay used to momentum to pull away after finishing the third quarter with a 9-4 run and maintaining the lead for almost the entire fourth quarter.
“Just trying to make plays for me and my teammates, all I’m trying to do,” James said in a post-game interview. “It ended up being a poster dunk that energized the whole team and it went well.”
James wasn’t the only Laker who ate last night. Quincy Olivari added a smooth 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Koloko chipped in a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sir’Jabari Rice scored 15, and his teammates Trey Jemison III and Jordan Goodwin each put up 14 points. For Rip City, Alex Reese led all scorers with 32 points. His next closest teammate points wise was Manley’s 15 points. Henri Drell, Cameron Tyson and Tyrell Roberts each scored 14 points for the Remix, whose record is now 4-5. With the NBA Lakers on the road, the younger James likely won’t rejoin the team until at least Feb. 4, when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Los Angeles Clippers.
