Bronny James suffers a setback in his NBA hopes when he is sent to the G-League after just three games with father LeBron

Bronny James, son of NBA icon LeBron James, has been demoted to the G-League – according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

After playing a few games with his father on the Los Angeles Lakers, the team has announced that Bronny is now going to the South Bay Lakers.

According to Charania, Bronny will be on the Lakers’ roster for their Friday night game against the Philadelphia 76ers before joining his new team on Saturday.

The report also adds that the plan is to shuffle Bronny between the South Bay and Los Angeles — but coach JJ Redick adds that those plans could change.

“Our plans are always fluid based on real time,” Redick said before a game against the Phoenix Suns in October. ‘I think we have two guys dressing up today and as of yesterday we don’t dress up.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James has been demoted to the G-League’s South Bay Lakers

‘The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and the South Bay has always been the plan since day one. (General manager) Rob (Pelinka) and I have talked about it. LeBron has talked about it.’

In the season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Bronny and LeBron became the first father-son duo in NBA history to play in a game together.

Bronny has played in four games so far in his NBA career — including Wednesday night’s 131-144 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

He scored his first points on October 30 in a 134–110 loss to his father’s first team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

His totals through the start of his NBA career are four points, one rebound, two assists and one steal over just 13 minutes of playing time.

Bronny was selected by the Lakers with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after spending one season playing college basketball at USC.

Before it was drafted, Bronny’s representation – Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul – advocated for a standard contract rather than a two-way deal.

However, Paul was open to a G-League situation for Bronny to develop.

Bronny played alongside his father, LeBron James, several times in his four NBA appearances

LeBron expressed openness to having his son develop away from the NBA team

It’s something that LeBron has also expressed openness to when he talked about it at the Lakers’ media day in September.

“Just (looking forward to) watching him continue to grow as a basketball player, whether it’s here with us or whether it’s down with the G League team, and he continues to get better and better and better,” said LeBron.

‘His job is to put in the work and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we will hold him accountable and he will hold us accountable.

‘And if we all do that, we’ll all be better because we’re all one team. We are a reflection of the South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.’

The South Bay Lakers play in the city of El Segundo in Los Angeles County. The G-League season begins on Friday.