Even on the road, Bronny James became a fan favorite in Washington.
Fans cheered for LeBron James’ son throughout the game, and with the Los Angeles Lakers well ahead of the Wizards on Thursday night, Bronny played the entire fourth quarter in his team’s 134-96 victory.
Bronny James scored a career-high five points. Although he shot 1 of 6 from the field, he made a driving layup while being fouled and completed the three-point play with a free throw.
“He did a lot of really good things tonight. I thought he made a couple really nice passes,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Defensively he was great. It’s building blocks for every young player, and I think tonight was a good, positive building block for him.”
Bronny’s game included an air ball from 3-point range, two rebounds, two assists, and two fouls. He had a steal and made a nice long pass to Dalton Knecht for a dunk. After his only field goal, he drove to the basket again and lobbed an alley-oop to Christian Koloko for another dunk.
He wrapped up the game with two free throws in the final seconds and was greeted with an “MVP! MVP!” chant from the crowd.
“He’s had eyeballs on him his whole life. He’s used to it,” Redick said. “I remember not playing a lot my rookie year and second year. The Orlando fans would sometimes chant that in a blowout in the fourth quarter — ‘We want JJ’ — and it’s a weird feeling. There’s that audible sort of anticipation every time you shoot the ball. It’s a lot.
“He has handled everything with dignity, grace, class, all that stuff. He’ll continue to grow.”
