Anthony Davis Looking Forward To Playing With Bronny James On Lakers

Anthony Davis told NBA reporter Dave McMenamin of ESPN that he supported the Los Angeles Lakers targeting Bronny James. 

The Lakers drafted Bronny with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Bronny is the son of LeBron James. 

“He’s very good defensively,” Davis told ESPN. “He can read the floor very well. I think he’s a really good playmaker. I saw him work out a couple times besides the [Klutch Sports] pro day and working with a big — his reads, reading the defense, making the right passes — that was really impressive to me. I think he’s going to be fine, man. Obviously it’s a lot of pressure on him with his dad being who he is.

“But one thing about Bronny, from what I’ve seen and what I heard, he wants to create his own path and he doesn’t want to be — even though he’s LeBron James’ son, he don’t want be seen as that. And I think having that mindset and trying to create his own path is going to work out for him. … Who knows, he might come in and be ready to play for us.”

Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest last year. He fully recovered and played for USC this past college season, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.2 blocks while shooting 36.6% from the field, 26.7% from beyond the arc and 67.6% from the free-throw line.  

Bronny performed well in the second scrimmage in Chicago at the NBA Draft Combine. He finished with 13 points in 23 minutes while shooting 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Bronny also crushed the 3-point star shooting drill at the NBA Draft combine, going 19/25 from deep. 

LeBron is expected to decline his 2024-25 player option with the Lakers and sign a new deal. According to McMenamin, the leading scorer in NBA history was very emotional after Bronny was drafted. 

Los Angeles hired JJ Redick as its new coach.