“He doesn’t need to be sitting on Lakers bench” – Magic Johnson discusses whether Bronny James is ready to play alongside LeBron James

Legendary Magic Johnson feels Bronny James needs game time under his belt and doesn’t need to be sitting on the Lakers bench in the upcoming season of the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James with the 55th pick in the second round of the draft.

Bronny, 19, averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game in his lone season at USC. But he was sidelined for five months after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Meanwhile, LeBron James and Bronny will become the first father-son duo in the NBA if they take the court together for the Lakers.

Magic Johnson said on Jimmy Kimmel Live, “It can go one or two ways. If I am Bronny, I would tell my dad, ‘Just let me play in the G-League all season, so that I can develop.’ He needs playing time. He doesn’t need to be sitting on the Lakers bench and not playing.

Johnson reckons Bronny is not yet ready for the big stage and needs to develop more before playing with the big boys.

“It’s not a knock against him. He’s just not ready. He needs to develop more. And then he will be ready because he has some great talent and skills but he needs to develop those skills at a much better clip if he wants to play 15-20 minutes in the NBA or more.”

Johnson, who played for the Lakers for 13 years, added LeBron is making Bronny play in the NBA.

Jimmy Kimmel asked Johnson, “So you think LeBron is making him play in the NBA?”

Johnson replied, “I wouldn’t say that ’cause I don’t know that. But if I am his father, like LeBron is, he needs to develop. It’s just that simple. The Lakers have done a wonderful job of developing players. Caruso, you see all those guys have developed under the Lakers G-League coach. They have done a good job of bringing guys up and playing them in the NBA.”

The Lakers will begin their NBA 2024-25 campaign against the Minnesota Timberwolves on 22nd October at the Crypto.com arena.