Andy Enfield calls Bronny James' minutes restriction a 'week-by-week thing'

The comfort level of Bronny James continues to increase as the freshman is still less than one month removed from his USC debut following his sudden cardiac arrest suffered during the team’s offseason workouts this summer.

James played in his sixth game of the season for the Trojans on Wednesday in the team’s 82-74 victory over Cal, scoring in double figures for the second time this season, but he still has not played in over 20 minutes of action in a game.

Following their win over the Golden Bears, USC head coach Andy Enfield was asked about James’ minutes restriction and if sees a timeline of it changing any time soon.

“We’re not sure, I don’t get into that with the doctors unless I need to,” Enfield said. “So that will be kind of a week-by-week type thing with him.”

James played a career-high 20 minutes in USC’s previous matchup last Saturday against Oregon State, where he also had a career-high 15 points. He kept his scoring going against Cal with 10 points on Wednesday, also recording three assists and a steal in each of the back-to-back matchups.

“Well he’s very active with his feet and his hands. He’s strong and he anticipates well, I thought he played a very good game tonight on both sides,” Enfield said following Wednesday’s game.

Defensively James has been playing strong since his USC debut on December 10, recording at least one block or steal in all but one of his games with the Trojans so far in his young career. But as his scoring and conditioning continue to improve, many USC fans will likely want to see more minutes out of the son of a superstar.

James was rushed to the hospital in late July after suffering a cardiac arrest during a workout on campus, arriving at the hospital conscious and in stable condition before being discharged shortly after. As a result he missed the Trojans’ first eight games of the season, and it will surely be interesting to see how the coaches and medical staff continue to monitor and navigate his minutes restriction moving forward this season.

Bronny James slams down alley-oop pass from Isaiah Collier in first half vs. Cal

Bronny James is fitting right into the USC lineup after debuting for the Trojans last month. He settled in right at the rim on Wednesday vs. the California Golden Bears.

James’ teammate and fellow 2023 McDonald’s All-American Isaiah Collier was able to deflect a pass from Cal guard Jaylon Tyson, take the ball up the court and find Bronny in the air for the highlight jam.

Bronny might’ve channeled a bit of his father on that slam. You know the one. Decide for yourself:

THE LOB. THE JAM!@isaiahcollier04 ↗️ Bronny James

📺: @Pac12Network
📱: https://t.co/sun5jxIL31 pic.twitter.com/rJIPoZhd1A

— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 4, 2024

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report