PALM DESERT, Calif. — It might have come directly following his turnover and during Game 1 of the preseason instead of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but Bronny James had a chase-down block of his own in his Los Angeles Lakers debut Friday with his father, LeBron James, sitting on the bench to witness it.
Bronny James finished with two points on 1-for-6 shooting in the Lakers’ 124-107 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves to open their six-game exhibition slate, but he led the team with three blocked shots in 16 minutes while adding one rebound and one assist.
The first block came less than a minute into his first shift to start the second quarter when the Timberwolves’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker stole James’ pass to D’Angelo Russell and streaked down the court toward the hoop.
The Lakers’ No. 55 pick did not give up on the play, sprinting to catch up to the 6-foot-5 Alexander-Walker and, despite being 6-2, easily leaping high enough to swat the attempt away from behind.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said James earned the rotation minutes after a strong showing in the first week of training camp.
“As a coaching staff, before the game, as we were kind of going over our rotation matrix, we were talking about Bronny, and he’s had some really good days in August and September,” Redick said. “He’s had three really good days this week. We’re really happy with his progress.”
Though James didn’t get his first bucket to fall until there was 56.2 seconds left and many fans were already filing out of Acrisure Arena, the Lakers “home” crowd still welcomed the driving layup with loud cheers.
The rest of his showing on offense — missing a floater off the back rim, sailing a baseline pull-up over the rim completely, getting blocked at the rim, coming up short on a long 3 and failing to connect on a 20-foot jumper — showed how much work still needs to be done, but Redick focused on James’ defensive impact that was already apparent.
“He can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique, and I think can turn into a really disruptive defender,” Redick said. “That manifested itself. On the offensive end, he’s still figuring out who he is. That’s our job as a player development program just to build him in.
“But truthfully, he’s so easy to coach. He’s got a great soul and just a great energy about him. I like being around him. I’m rooting for him. He’s a good player that we’re happy to have in our program.”
LeBron James did not play Friday, with Redick holding out the 22-year veteran to rest after he competed for USA Basketball in the Paris Olympics.
However, Redick said he expects James to suit up Sunday when the Lakers play the Phoenix Suns, which could be the first time the father and son are in uniform together.
