Third-year Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James didn’t take kindly to a heckler during his team’s 121-116 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
James, recently recalled from the G League, warmed the bench as Lakers head coach JJ Redick used a tight 10-man rotation in the absence of Luka Doncic. While sidelined alongside Jaden Hardy, rookie Cameron Carr, two-way player Lawson Lovering and veteran center Kevon Looney, James exchanged words with a heckler.
“Can you run a mile?” James asked the fan, while being pulled away by Lakers staff.
“How much money you making?” James asked in a follow-up question.
Multiple reports indicate the Pistons fan was ejected from the arena. It remains unclear what was said to prompt such a heated reaction from the second-generation player.
Lakers Win 5 in a Row
The Lakers entered the game as 6.5-point underdogs after news broke that MVP frontrunner Luka Doncic would sit out with back tightness. However, Austin Reaves had other ideas. The sixth-year guard dropped a season-high 43 points — and posted a game-high +21 differential — to power Los Angeles to a 121–116 victory. Behind a blistering 38–14 start in the first quarter, the Lakers built enough of a cushion to withstand a 102–83 Detroit comeback effort the rest of the way.
JJ Redick had high praise for Reaves after Sunday’s win.
“I thought AR’s decision-making, his aggression, his ability to just consistently touch the paint and get downhill was fantastic tonight,” Redick said of Reaves, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The Pistons — who outscored the Lakers 102–83 over the final three quarters — trimmed the deficit to within a single possession by the end of the third while Reaves sat on the bench. Rather than checking his star back in early, Redick trusted Collin Sexton and Ziaire Williams to carry the scoring load, a bold move that paid off and caught many by surprise.
Lakers Bank on Depth
“You got to allow the players to play through it,” Redick said of trusting his bench.
“And the same thing with the star players, you got to allow them to get their rest. If you start just overreacting in-game and saying, ‘I got to get this guy back in, I got to get this guy back in,’ it’s just chaos. And we’re trying to create consistency for our players.”
Sexton, who had 17 points off the bench, was not surprised to see Reaves step into Luka Doncic’s role in Sunday’s win.
“Guys have to step up when someone’s averaging 40,” Sexton said.
“You got to fill the shoes and be ready to impact winning. And I felt like we did that tonight, and AR picked those shoes up and he wore them.”
The red-hot Lakers (9-2) will look to extend their winning streak to six games Monday in the second night of a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks (7-4). It’s unknown if Luka Doncic will be cleared in time for the contest. Bronny James is expected to remain on the Lakers bench.
Lakers’ Bronny James Goes Viral for Heated Exchange With Pistons Fan