Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James had a terrific debut season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, averaging 21.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 11 regular-season games.
However, he failed to qualify for any of the three All-NBA G League Teams announced by the NBA on April 17.
Reigning G League MVP JD Davison, Mac McClung, Oscar Tshiebwe, Jaylen Nowell and Malachi Flynn made the First Team.
Second Team honors went to Mason Jones, Elijah Harkless, Bryce McGowens, Moses Brown and Drew Timme. The Third Team includes former Suns forward T.J. Warren, Chuma Okeke, Trey Alexander, Josh Christopher and Isaac Jones.
🏆 Moses Brown, @wcknicks 🏆 Elijah Harkless, @slcstars 🏆 Mason Jones, @StocktonKings 🏆 Bryce McGowens, @ripcityremix 🏆 Drew Timme, @LongIslandNets
🏆 Trey Alexander, @NBAGrandRapids 🏆 Josh Christopher, @sfskyforce 🏆 Isaac Jones, @StocktonKings 🏆 Chuma Okeke, @wcknicks 🏆 T.J. Warren, @wcknicks
Was Bronny James Overlooked?
Despite his terrific rookie campaign, it’s understandable why Bronny didn’t make the cut for any of the All-NBA G League Teams, which G League head coaches select at the end of the regular season.
While MVP Davidson averaged 25.6 points and 7.5 assists, McClung notched a career-high 25.7 points per game. Elsewhere, Flynn averaged a healthy 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for the Osceola Magic.
Bronny will now turn his attention to the 2025 NBA playoffs, his first taste of postseason experience at the pro level. The 20-year-old is unlikely to receive any playing time, but he’s eager to learn the nuances of the postseason from the bench.
“The preparation and thinking the game as much as they do in the playoffs, and their intensity, yeah, I am ready to be open-minded and learn [from] every game,” he said after the Lakers’ season finale against the Trail Blazers on April 13.
Bronny Gets A New Role On Lakers
Interestingly, Bronny James will serve as more than just a spectator from the bench during the 2025 NBA playoffs. Per Lakers head coach JJ Redick, Bronny played the part of Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards to help the Lakers’ scout team.
“It’s not part of NBA culture anymore to do such scouting,” Redick said of using Bronny as part of the scout team. “When I was early in my career, not playing, I was on the scouting team every single game in the regular season.
“Always relished a chance to be [Manu] Ginobili, D-Wade, JR Smith, and take all those shots,” he added. “It’s very uncommon you do that during the regular season. I don’t even know if these guys are used to that.”
The Wolves have been using Joe Ingles as Luka Doncic in their scouting groups.
Edwards and the Timberwolves will face the Lakers in Game 1 of the 2025 NBA playoffs on Saturday, April 19. The Lakers start as heavy favorites, and rightfully so, given their impeccable record of 32-18 since the start of the new calendar year, and 18-12 since the All-Star break.
Austin Reaves gave insight into the Lakers’ mindset ahead of the series.
“I would say high,” Reaves said of the team’s confidence level, via Lakers Nation. “We’ve had about a week off and you’re just itching to get out on the floor to compete. We had a couple of good days today and yesterday and we gotta keep building that until Saturday when we take the court.”
Reaves averaged career-highs in points (20.2), rebounds (4.5), assists (5.8) and steals (1.1) in his fourth season with the Lakers.
Lakers’ Bronny James Gets Bad News Before NBA Playoffs