ESPN's Brian Windhorst Slams Lakers' G League Plan For Bronny James
11/13/2024 10:48 AM
Brian Windhorst hasn't minded how the Los Angeles Lakers have handled Bronny James until a recent move.
The rookie played in five games for the Lakers, beginning the season by sharing the court with LeBron to become the first father-son teammates in NBA history. They recently sent their second-round pick to the G League, where he scored six points in his debut for the South Bay Lakers.
On The Hoop Collective, Windhorst said he's been "absolutely, 100 percent on board with the entire Bronny James experience" thus far. He felt the No. 55 pick was a fair draft spot for the former USC guard and was "totally fine" with the 20-year-old getting a chance to play alongside his dad.
However, he disagrees with the organization's reported plan to limit Bronny to G League home games.
"I'm gonna apply the brakes on my 'everything's fine on the Bronny front' with this thing that's now happening," Windhorst said. "Which is that, from my understanding, he's only going to play in the South Bay Lakers' home games. He's only going to kind of be a part-time G League player, and he's not getting on United Airlines and going to fly to play these road games."
Windhorst argued that this plan has "gone too far" and doesn't benefit anybody involved. He said it'd be "much better" if Bronny had more chances to develop by playing road games.
"I know he's getting somewhat special treatment and nepotism," Windhorst continued. "That's fine. Honestly, I don't care. Like I said, it's normal. Now, I think it's actually detrimental to him. I don't like that."
ESPN's Dave McMenamin added that Joey Buss, the president and SEO of the South Bay Lakers, told him that the schedule and injuries could impact when Bronny plays. The organization has never confirmed on the record that he'll only play at home.
"That's going to be fluid," Buss said. "We're going to do what's best for his development. There's going to be a lot of things that we do for all the assignment players, and decisions are made based off where they are, based off the injury status, based off how many bodies they need for practice. There's a lot of variables. So nothing unique for Bronny. He's just kind of in that system."
Related: Here Are Bronny James' Stats From His First G-League Game
