Bronny James headed to G League, analyst says he’ll find his ‘inner dog’ there

Bronny James is headed to the NBA G League and one NBA analyst believes he’ll find his “inner dog” there.
LeBron’s eldest son has been assigned to the G League’s South Bay Lakers and is expected to debut against Salt Lake City on Saturday, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. James will play only home games for South Bay, moving between the G League and NBA as seen fit by the Lakers.
“Maybe he needs to live that [G League] life, find out what it’s all about,” Brian Scalabrine, the Boston Celtics analyst and Sirius NBARadio co-host, said on air last month of Bronny eventually going to the G League. “Maybe that’s exactly what he needs.
“He’s gotta find that inner dog in him, and that’s what I think he’ll find down there. That could be the best thing for him.”
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The 6-foot-2, 20-year-old guard has scored a total of four points in four games with the Lakers, playing 13 total minutes overall. He has two assists, one rebound and one steal.
Scalabrine said competing against older players and riding to games on buses instead of living the first-class life of an NBA player will toughen James up and reveal whether he can actually compete in the NBA.
“That’s what we will find out,” Scalabrine said. “We won’t find that out playing five minutes at the end of the Lakers bench….The best part is we’re going to find out. There’s nowhere to go after [the G League]. There’s nowhere to hide. He’s got a four-year [$7.9 million] deal….This is it right here. You go down there, you gotta fight for your crumbs. And this is what it’s gonna be like for him, and we’re gonna be able to figure it out.”
He added: “If this thing is gonna work, Bronny’s going to have to find who he is and it’s probably not as the 12th, 13th, 14th man on the Laker bench. He’s gonna have to go find himself in the G League, where he’s playing 30 minutes a night, where dudes are going at his head.
“You always find out what you’re made of when you get stuck into the fire, and I think he needs to get stuck into the fire.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.