Bronny James plays first NBA minutes in Lakers' preseason loss to Timberwolves

Bronny James plays first NBA minutes in Lakers’ preseason loss to Timberwolves

Posted by Admin October 5, 2024 NBA

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With LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Anthony Edwards all taking the night off, the most noteworthy moment in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ preseason opener against the Timberwolves on Friday night at Acrisure Arena came in the form of Bronny James.

The Lakers’ rookie, and son of LeBron, logged his first minutes as an NBA player in front of an almost sold-out crowd during the Lakers’ 124-107 loss to Minnesota.

Bronny drew a nice ovation when he entered the game in the second quarter. After a slow start that included a turnover and a contested airball, Bronny showed some spark with a blocked shot which led directly to his assist on a 3-pointer. His first five shots missed and with each one a groan from the crowd dying to see his first bucket.

Finally in the final minute, it was the biggest roar of the night, as Bronny drove to the basket and scored a contested left-handed layup in the final minute of the game.

In all, Bronny played 16 minutes and had two points on 1-of-6 shooting. He had three blocks, an assist, a rebound and a turnover.

First-year coach JJ Redick had positive things to say about his famous rookie.

“He’s had some really good days of practice this week, really happy with his progress. He can do some things defensively at his size that are really unique and can I think really turn into a disruptive defender and that manifested itself (tonight),” Redick said referencing Bronny’s three blocks from his guard position. “On the offensive end, he’s still kind of figuring out who he is and that’s our job as a player development. I liked what I saw from Bronny.”

Even without the star power, the crowd was energized and engaged throughout in the second-ever NBA preseason game in Palm Desert.

Bronny’s debut was notable, but the Lakers’ other rookie, Dalton Knecht, a first-round pick from Tennessee, stole the show. Knecht, also playing in his first game, seemed to immediately be comfortable with the pace of the NBA game.

Knecht scored 16 points and confidently attacked on the offensive end whether it was going to the rim or shooting the three. His best of many highlights was an early fourth quarter dunk that had the crowd roaring and even LeBron and Davis get up out of their seat to celebrate the slam.

For the Lakers, the leading scorers were Austin Reaves and Knecht with 16 each.

The Timberwolves were led by Josh Minott with 22 points and Luka Garza with 20.

The Lakers return to Acrisure Arena on Sunday to play the Phoenix Suns. Tip time is 6:30 p.m. and LeBron and Davis are expected to play in that game. The Lakers are now 0-2 at Acrisure Arena — having lost last year’s preseason game to the Suns 123-100.

LeBron from the sideline

King James sat on the Lakers bench in street clothes during the game, mostly stoic, watching the action. He gave Bronny a slight low-five once he came off the court after his first action. Otherwise, there was not a ton of interaction between father and son in this one.

Bronny, who talked to media earlier in the day, said he expects to hear from dad about what he did right and what he did wrong, just like when LeBron would attend his high school games.

“Pretty much the same thing, but now we’re teammates,” Bronny said. “So, it’s going to be more in-depth talk about the game and stuff like that. So yeah, I’m ready for it.”

JJ Redick debut

On a night of firsts, it was also the debut of new Lakers’ coach JJ Redick. He said before the game that he wasn’t nervous or anxious in the traditional sense, but nervous about how the team would perform.

He wasn’t expecting a masterpiece after just three practices and a shootaround, but he was disappointed in certain aspects of the way the team performed.

“I think if you look at the game in its entirety we got destroyed in the possession battle, turnovers, offensive rebounds they took 15 more shots than us. Their physicality hurt us,” Redick said. “That being said, I think there was a lot of good stuff that we did. I told our guys before the game there are three things I’m going to measure us on in this game: Organization, our (communication), and our level of compete. I thought the third one, we had that, the other two we’ve got to get better.”

The heat is on

Julius Randle, one of the newest Timberwolves, who was traded to Minnesota from New York in the last week, said he’s getting acclimated with his new team, but he certainly didn’t see himself being in Palm Desert, California on Oct. 4.

“We landed last night and they said it was 110 degrees outside and I had on a full sweatsuit,” Randle said with a laugh. “All I’ve been hearing about is Minnesota winters (since the trade). But it’s beautiful here. I did play in L.A. for four years so I’m kind of used to seeing the mountains and the warm weather. But just being out here in the desert, it’s amazingly beautiful, lot of good food around, I’m excited to be here.”

Nuggets and observations

Getting their steps in: Remember running up and down the bleachers for exercise in high school? Apparently that doesn’t stop when you’re a pro. During the Timberwolves’ shootaround in the afternoon, while his teammates were getting up shots, All-Star Anthony Edwards was running up and down the aisles at Acrisure Arena with a strength and conditioning coach. Then, at about 6:20 p.m. right before the doors opened to fans, Minnesota’s Julius Randle was doing the same thing in a full track suit working up a sweat.

Tribute: The night started with a moment of silence for the great Jerry West. Hall of Famer. Champion. Logo.

Lakers jerseys spotted in the crowd: Tons of LeBron and Kobe, but also Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaq, Dennis Rodman, Kobe Bryant Lower Marion High School, Jerry West, Andrew Bynum, Austin Reaves, Anthony Davis, Bronny James Jr., Pau Gasol, Rui Hachimura

Timberwolves jerseys spotted in the crowd: Anthony Edwards, Latrell Sprewell