After a poor performance at the start of the week against the 76ers, coach JJ Redick decided to give another chance for Bronny James during another road game. As usual, the young player was a crowd favourite, and this time even earned praise in Washington from the stands when he dropped in a difficult layup.
Early in the game against the Lakers, the home fans chanted for the rookie star, who was given the chance to play the entire fourth quarter of his squad’s powerful 134-96 win against the Wizards.
Unlike his game against Philadelphia, when he went scoreless on Tuesday, this time he scored an NBA career-high five points. Even though he shot only 1-for-6 from the field, his coach was very impressed with his performance last night. “He did a lot of really good things tonight,” JJ said.
BRONNY JAMES RECEIVES MVP CHANTS FROM THE WIZARDS CROWD 😭pic.twitter.com/spPvmuXkOk
— NBA Cup (@TheNBACup) January 31, 2025
“I thought he made a couple really nice passes,” Redick shared during the postgame interview. “Defensively he was great. It’s building blocks for every young player, and I think tonight was a good, positive building block for him.”
James Jr.’s display also included an air ball from beyond the arc, two rebounds, two assists and two fouls. During one play, he stole the ball and delivered a long pass to Dalton Knecht, who went for the dunk. Shortly after, the rookie drove towards the rim but lobbed an alley-oop for Christian Koloko’s to slam in.
In the final moments of the matchup in Washington, the 20-year-old scored both his free throws while the audience shouted “MVP! MVP!”, either as an incentive or as a joke. “He’s had eyeballs on him his whole life. He’s used to it,” JJ added. “I remember not playing a lot my rookie year and second year.”
He then added: “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.”
