Bronny James showed out in the G-League for the South Bay Lakers in 2024-25, and he remains motivated to earn a full-time call-up to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2025-26.
The former No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft averaged 21.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.9 steals while knocking down 38.0% of his 8.4 three-point attempts in 11 appearances for South Bay, clearly displaying why he could become a dependable role player for the Lakers’ main franchise at the NBA level.
James’ two-way potential as a 20-year-old incoming sophomore guard has drawn the attention of the team’s head coach and former 15-year veteran shooting guard JJ Redick, but the second-year coach believes that the son of Los Angeles’ 21-time All-Star LeBron James has some developing to do in the cardio department.
In fact, a recent update has revealed that Redick has a player or two in mind that are similar in stature and play-style to James who can aid the late second-round pick in his development.
“Redick points to the 6-2, 205-pound Davion Mitchell of the Miami Heat or his friend and former teammate, the 6-1, 190-pound T.J. McConnell of the Indiana Pacers, as examples of the type of game changer James can become,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote Tuesday morning.
“But part of their skill sets is a two-way relentlessness that requires tremendous stamina, a physical output James has not sustained.”
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If James wishes to succeed at the NBA level, he’ll have to become an unbelievably gritty and persistent defender due to his size limitations. Thankfully, Redick has pointed to the Miami Heat’s Davion Mitchell and Indiana Pacers’ T.J. McConnell as key representations of who he can model his game after.
Specifically, James could learn plenty from analyzing McConnell’s contributions for the Pacers during the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
At 33 years old, the gritty 6-foot-1 point guard averaged 12.0 points, 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals while connecting on 55.2% of his field goal attempts against one of the greatest defensive teams in recent NBA history, and his unreal stamina had plenty to do with his individual success.
McConnell’s overwhelming endurance and never-say-die attitude kept the Pacers in plenty of contests which they otherwise may have checked out of mentally by halftime.
For the strong and agile 6-foot-2 guard James, replicating and developing a motor similar to McConnell’s could change the trajectory of his professional basketball career.
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