Bronny James has been making big strides.
Bronny James is back with the Los Angeles Lakers after another successful stint in the G-League and with every passing day, James looks more and more like an established NBA player.
James scored just four points in 13 minutes on the floor in the Lakers' 137-130 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, but two of those points came on one of the biggest shots of the night when James hit a 16-foot pull up jumper with just under four minutes left to pad a Laker lead that was eventually tested by a late Indiana surge.
A special moment during the game was when James and his father and teammate LeBron James subbed in together.
The James and James Connection
It was a live testament to the absurdity of their situations, for the elder James his longevity to even still be in the league when his son was old enough to be a pro, and for the younger the fact that his dad is his teammate at all.
That absurd situation is also a reason that Bronny James has a stigma attached to his name that will be hard to scrub off as his detractors will inevitably point to his dad being the star that he is as the reason that James was given a shot as a NBA player.
But, to his teammates that both play with him everyday and aren't related to him, the work that James has put in to be a contributor on the court is obvious.
Reaves Praises Bronny
"He's just gotten better every single day. He don't no shortcuts. He loves working, does the right things, keeps his head down, don't care about all the noise. Just continues to work and get better every single day," Austin Reaves said (via Spectrum SportsNet).
Reaves was also happy that James has been becoming a better golfer too, but that's besides the point.
James may see limited usage at the NBA level, but he's steadily found ways to be a legitimate asset on the floor for the Lakers. James has shooting ability and a quickness to him that can help with the team's pace during rotations.
His growth now is dependent on getting more reps at the highest level to continue building his confidence and honing his skills.
James has made it clear that he's not interested in coasting off of his family name and wants to do the work to make himself a real factor for his team. That work has been a constant, evolving process. It's also been a process that Reaves has witnessed firsthand.