Bronny James Has Career High 17 in Loss to Milwaukee, LeBron Might Return Saturday Vs. Chicago

Following Wednesday's win over Denver at the Crypt, Luka Dončić was wrapped up in ice like a mummy. Austin Reaves looked ready to pass out from exhaustion. So with a hard stretch run ahead and the Lakers already down LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers made the smart choice and sat both of those dudes. And for good measure, kept Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt in street clothes. So that's a lot of manpower out of the lineup to face a motivated, basically healthy Milwaukee team. The results weren't a shock—Bucks win, 118-89. The high point, and the only big talking point, was the play of Bronny James. Pressed into significant minutes against real, front-of-the-rotation NBA players, James had easily his best game as a pro. Low bar to clear, yes, but the level of progress since that late January disaster in Philadephia is clear. Bronny finished 7-10 from the floor, including a couple triples and an array of nice finishes at and around the basket. He had five assists, which could have been more had his teammates finished a few more shots. It'll be interesting to see how this performance is discussed among the national media, if it's even discussed at all. On the one hand, that would be a nice change of pace. It is not normally national news when a 55th pick has a solid game in a blowout loss. But obviously Bronny is no ordinary 55th pick. And if this game is, in fact, generally ignored, it could confirm some of the criticisms directed at the media, notably that Bronny is a proxy through which pundits can criticize LeBron, and that it's only his failures that are worth any proverbial ink. Were he anyone else, fans would look at this game and see nice progress. Nothing spectacular, nothing to get worked up over, but nice progress. It's easy to forget that Bronny is a 20-year old rookie who basically lost his only college season. There's no question he was drafted by the Lakers because LeBron wanted them to, nor that he has more security here than than he (or generic 55th pick) would typically have. But on the merits, level set against appropriate expectations (55th pick, developmental project) Bronny is having a good year. He is making progress. Obstacles remain—he still seems painfully undersized at times—but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He has a chance to be an NBA player. He's four years away from being as old as Dalton Knecht. The point isn't that he'll end up as good as Dalton, just that there's a lot of youth there. No matter what, it's great to see him have some success, and quiet some of the critics who see him as a novelty act who can't compete. HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: The Lakers sit everyone, lose to Milwaukee. SEGMENT 2: Bronny has a career high 17. SEGMENT 3: Thinking big picture. Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! 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