Bronny James scores NBA career-high 17 points year and a half since cardiac arrest: ‘I feel like it’s all coming back’

March 21, 2025

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James scored an NBA career-high 17 points on Thursday (3/20) against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Lakers were without LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Dorian Finney-Smith, so Bronny played 30 minutes. He finished with 17 points and five assists while shooting 7-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3.

It’s been almost a year and a half since Bronny nearly died due to a cardiac arrest at USC. LeBron’s son is slowly but surely starting to feel like himself again.

“I feel like it’s all coming back,” Bronny said. “Just being out for that long, stuff that I had to go through, wind-wise and lung-wise. I think I’ve been getting more comfortable as I get the reps under me and get the games under me and practices and learning from the bench and stuff like that. And I feel like it’s good for me.”

Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke highly of Bronny after the Bucks game, a contest Los Angeles lost by a final score of 118-89.

“Not surprised by tonight,” Redick said of Bronny. “I think his confidence is growing. … I think the next step is just becoming an elite-conditioned athlete. Because when [he] does that, with his physical tools and his burst and his handle — and we think he’s going to be an above-average to really good NBA shooter — he’s going to have a chance to really make an impact.

“I’ve just been impressed with the person that he is. And to deal with … frankly, bulls— because of who his dad is and just keep a level head about it and be a class act says a lot about him, says a lot about that family. And the way LeBron and Savannah have raised him was obvious to me from the moment I started spending time with him on the court this summer. He was certainly going to be an NBA player, and I still believe that he’ll be an NBA player.”

Bronny is putting up excellent numbers in the G League. He’s averaging 20.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 43.1% from the field, 36.1% from beyond the arc and 80.0% from the free-throw line.