s needed to make it clear who got here out on high the final time he performed his father in golf.
"I gained," James advised reporters as he cracked a smile at s media day on Monday, Sept. 28. "He's fairly pissed about this."
It was a fast, lighthearted second that drew laughs from these in attendance, but it surely additionally helped deal with the elephant within the room: for the primary time in his now three-year NBA profession, Bronny gained't be sharing a locker room with LeBron James.
"Appears like he's not right here," James mentioned matter of factly. "I don't actually have an opinion on that. That's my dad, I spent 22 years, virtually, with him. Simply one other expertise that I'm gonna be part of, and I'm excited to see the way it's gonna really feel throughout the season, too. Wanting ahead to it."
LAKERS SEASON PREVIEW: ok
s in free company this summer time, marking an finish to the primary father-son duo to ever take the court docket collectively in an NBA recreation after two years as teammates. Bronny James spent a lot of that point within the G League, however he made a leap in yr two final season and cracked the rotation within the Lakers' first-round playoff collection towards the s.
Now, with an virtually fully new forged of teammates centered round Luka Dončić and s, he sees room for much more development as he units off on his personal path.
"It's simply one thing that I've adopted my complete life," James mentioned. "You guys know me as Bronny, my actual identify is LeBron. I've been doing this for nonetheless lengthy, so I feel it's a motivating issue for me simply getting up on daily basis and making an attempt to show myself as Bronny as a substitute of LeBron."
Bronny on the way it feels to be enjoying his first season with out LeBron on the Lakers:
"Appears like he's not right here." R
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) 6
Bronny James has been centered on making an attempt to be probably the most constant model of himself over the offseason. The 21-year-old guard has been displaying up on daily basis to work on his dribbling, playmaking and "being relentless" on each ends of the court docket. He is aware of versatility is a precedence in coach JJ Redick's new scheme, and his finest probability to get minutes is as a secondary ballhandler on offense and a point-of-attack defender when Dončić and Reaves are off the ground.
He's additionally gotten to know his new teammates fairly properly, accompanying them on the group's journey to Slovenia. There, James advised reporters, is the place he felt the chemistry begin to take off.
"We had some runs in apply, determining one another's recreation and simply chilling off the court docket, attending to know one another," he mentioned. "… I feel that's going to hold over into the season fairly properly."
AUSTIN REAVES: A
Not solely does this yr's Lakers squad look completely different, they'll be enjoying otherwise than they did in JJ Redick's first two years as head coach. Redick has already talked about he'll be switching up the defensive scheme to extra man-on-man with newly acquired Walker Kessler parked close to the paint to wash up something that will come his means. Reaves and a number of other different gamers additionally talked a few fast-paced free-flowing offense with much less pick-and-roll.
"Everybody's younger," James mentioned. "… I really feel like we will feed off one another's vitality and there's gonna be loads of guys that may exit, give full effort and switch up the sport."
LeBron James, in the meantime, made it clear that he didn't make his free company determination – presumably the final one in all his 24-year NBA profession – flippantly, d. I do know that for positive. Work must be completed, and I’m able to get to work."
Whereas he bought the blessing of all the James household, Bronny mentioned it wasn't cathartic second by any means.
"We're males of little or no phrases with regards to speaking about enterprise and what we're gonna do and the way we really feel about one another," James mentioned. "Wasn't actually a lot, to be sincere with you. He's bought his personal path and I've bought my very own. … And he is aware of that I need to concentrate on that."
These two paths are set to converge as soon as extra on Dec. 25, when the Lakers host the the s at Crypto.com Area in LeBron's return to Los Angeles.
"I'm excited to see him on Christmas," Bronny mentioned.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: ;
