Bronny James suffers blow to his NBA hopes as he is sent to G-League after just four games with dad LeBron

Bronny James, the son of NBA icon LeBron James, has been demoted to the G-League – according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

After playing a few games with his father on the Los Angeles Lakers, the team has announced that Bronny will now be off to the South Bay Lakers.

According to Charania, Bronny will be on the Lakers’ roster for their Friday evening game against the Philadelphia 76ers before heading to join his new team on Saturday.

The report also adds that the plan is to shuffle Bronny between South Bay and Los Angeles – but coach JJ Redick adds that those plans may change.

‘Our plans are always fluid based on real time,’ Redick said before a game against the Phoenix Suns in October. ‘I believe we have two guys dressing today that as of yesterday we’re not dressing out. 

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James has been demoted to the G-League’s South Bay Lakers

‘The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. [General manager] Rob [Pelinka] and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that.’

In the season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Bronny and LeBron became the first father-son duo in NBA history to play in a game together.

Bronny has played in four games so far in his NBA career – including Wednesday night’s 131-144 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

He scored his first points on October 30 in a 134-110 loss to his father’s first team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

His totals through the start of his NBA career are four points, one rebound, two assists, and a steal across just 13 minutes of game time.

Bronny was selected by the Lakers with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after spending one season playing college basketball at USC.

Prior to being drafted, Bronny’s representation – Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul – advocated for a standard contract rather than a two-way deal. 

However, Paul was open to a G-League situation in order for Bronny to develop.

Bronny played alongside his father, LeBron James, multiple times in his four NBA appearances

LeBron expressed openness to having his son develop away from the NBA team

That’s something that LeBron has also expressed an openness to, speaking about it at the Lakers’ media day in September.

‘Just [looking forward to] seeing him continue to grow as a basketball player, no matter if it’s here with us or if it’s down with the G League team, and him continuing to get better and better and better,’ LeBron said. 

‘His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable. 

‘And if we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We’re a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.’

The South Bay Lakers play in the city of El Segundo in Los Angeles County. The G-League season begins on Friday.