Bronny James explains Lakers gameplan vs. Hawks, ends 3-point skid in Summer League win

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 87-86 in the NBA 2K25 Summer League tournament on Wednesday night.

Bronny James scored 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting to help lead the Lakers to their first victory of the summer league. The Hawks remain winless.

“It was about being solid on the defensive end,” James said on-court postgame. “We tried to come out and get a good shot out every time out. Good outcome.”

Coming into the game, James was 0-11 from 3-point range while averaging just five points per game. He not only more than doubled his average during the outing but also nailed the first 3-point basket of his NBA career during the contest. The shot came in the fourth quarter after James was held scoreless in the third. He would hit another by the end of the night.

“I was just trying to forget about all the other shots that I missed,” he said. “Forget about all the games we lost. I try to play my game and do my best every time I come on the court. That’s what I did tonight and it ended up well.

During the game, however, James experienced more than one ‘first-ever’ at the NBA level. He also received a technical foul after a swift conversation with an official on-court. James’ tech was casual and no tempers flared, the extra free throws for Atlanta could have played a massive role in the final score given how close the game ended up being.

The Lakers move on to face Bronny’s hometown squad, the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday in Las Vegas. The opening tip is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.

More on Bronny James

James joins the Lakers following just one season at USC, where he averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in his 19.4 minutes per game during his true freshman year. Primarily coming off of the bench for the Trojans with just six starts and three games in double figures last college basketball season.

James played high school basketball at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, Los Angeles (CA), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 25 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle and the No. 6 ranked point guard, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

His college career got off to a frightening start after suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest in early July during one of USC’s offseason workouts. But he eventually worked himself back to full strength after missing the first eight games of the season, shooting 36.6% from the field in his 25 games as a two-way role player for the Trojans.

On3’s Kaiden Smith contributed to this report.