The spotlight is a funny thing. It can warm you up or it can absolutely toast you. For Bronny James, it’s basically been a solar flare since he stepped onto the hardwood at Sierra Canyon. Now, well into the 2025-26 NBA season, the conversation around the Los Angeles Lakers guard has shifted from the novelty of playing with his dad, LeBron James, to the cold, hard reality of professional basketball development.
Honestly, it's been a bit of a rollercoaster.
People love to talk about the "nepotism" angle. You've heard it a thousand times. But if you actually look at the box scores and the tape from the last few months, the story isn't just about who his father is. It’s about a 21-year-old kid trying to find a rhythm in a league that doesn't wait for anyone.
The G League Shuffle and the "Home Only" Controversy
One of the biggest talking points lately has been the Lakers' decision to have Bronny play primarily in home games for the South Bay Lakers. It’s a weird setup. Basically, he doesn't hop on the team flight for every G League road trip. Instead, he stays back to train or stay available for the main roster.
Critics like Kevin Windhorst have called it "special treatment." And yeah, it kinda is. But from a Lakers perspective, they're trying to thread a very thin needle. They want him to get the 30-plus minutes he needs to develop—which he's been getting in South Bay—while keeping him nearby for those "cool" moments with LeBron or when the injury bug hits the main squad.
In the G League, Bronny has actually shown some flashes. We're talking about games where he’s putting up 17 to 20 points and looking like a real floor general. In a recent January 2026 outing against the Memphis Hustle, he dropped a season-high 20 points. He looked confident. He was hitting the rim. He was actually looking at the basket, which has been a struggle at the NBA level.
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Why Bronny James and the LA Lakers Struggle to Connect on Court
When he’s with the big club, the stats are... well, they’re humble. As of mid-January 2026, Bronny is averaging roughly 1.6 to 2.3 points per game in the NBA. He’s played in about 20 games this season, but his minutes are usually stuck in that "garbage time" window of 7 to 8 minutes.
It’s hard to get a rhythm when you only play the last three minutes of a blowout.
There was that one start against Milwaukee back in November. Remember that? The Lakers were decimated by injuries—Marcus Smart was out, Rui Hachimura was sidelined. Coach JJ Redick threw Bronny into the fire. He played 10 minutes and went 0-for-2 from deep.
The internet was ruthless.
But here’s the thing: his defense is actually legitimate. Even when his shot isn't falling (and his 3-point percentage is hovering in the high 20s), his lateral quickness is impressive. He moves his feet. He stays in front of veteran guards. He has that "high basketball IQ" everyone raved about in high school, but it’s currently trapped in a body that’s still adjusting to NBA speed.
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The Competition is Getting Heavier
The Lakers aren't just sitting around waiting for Bronny to turn into an All-Star. The "hot seat" got a lot warmer recently when the team signed Kobe Bufkin to a 10-day contract. Bufkin is a former first-round pick who has been absolutely torching the G League.
Then you have guys like Nick Smith Jr.
Smith has basically doubled Bronny’s minutes because he can score in bunches. While Bronny is a "3-and-D" prospect who currently lacks the "3," Smith is a bucket-getter. In a win-now environment surrounding LeBron’s 23rd season, "potential" often loses out to "production."
What the Numbers Actually Say (Early 2026 Update)
If you ignore the name on the back of the jersey, you see a second-year guard with these splits:
- NBA Stats: ~2.0 PPG, 1.0 AST, 31% FG.
- G League Stats: ~17.0 PPG, 5.7 AST, 46% FG.
That gap is massive. It tells us that Bronny is "too good" for the G League but not quite ready to be a rotation piece on a playoff-contending NBA team. He’s in that developmental purgatory.
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What's Next for the James Dynasty?
The Lakers are at a crossroads. There are trade rumors floating around—there are always trade rumors—suggesting the Lakers might move him to a rebuilding team where he can actually play 20 minutes a night without the pressure of a title chase. But would they really trade LeBron’s son while LeBron is still wearing the purple and gold? Probably not.
If you're following this closely, the "actionable" takeaway isn't about the hype. It's about watching the South Bay Lakers box scores. If Bronny can start hitting that corner three at a 35% clip in the NBA, he becomes a useful bench piece. Until then, he's a specialist who is still learning how to be a pro.
Key Steps for Bronny's Development:
- Commit to the G League Road: To kill the "nepotism" narrative, he eventually needs to be a full-time G League player who travels with the team and earns his stripes in empty gyms in Iowa or Delaware.
- Aggressive Scoring: He needs to stop passing out of open looks. NBA defenders will just sag off him until he proves he can hurt them.
- Physical Strength: He's 6'2" and 210 lbs, which is solid, but he needs to use that frame to finish through contact at the rim.
The experiment is far from over. It’s just getting started. Whether he becomes a career role player or a footnote in his father's legendary story depends entirely on what happens in those quiet morning shootarounds when the cameras are finally turned off.