It’s been good vibes and high energy around Lakers practices this training camp — there’s a DJ at practices and reports from beat writers say the guys are going full speed at the end, not the half-speed reporters usually get to see.
LeBron James and son Bronny James going at each other is another part of that. Here’s what Anthony Davis said after practice, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Anthony Davis with an update on how the father-son scrimmages are going: Bronny hit a 3 over LeBron today and the Lakers started ragging on dad for it pic.twitter.com/N3F6IUv4Sp
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 2, 2024
“Bronny hit a 3 over him today. Everybody was talking smack in Bronny’s favor. Then Bron came down and just bullied somebody. Just took it out on — I forgot who it was — and got a layup. Bronny came down and hit another 3, I think over Austin [Reaves]. And Bron wanted the ball. So you could see, even though they weren’t matched up, the competition is there. And that’s what we love to see.”
I’ll add the LeBron James we got to see at Lakers media day was more energized than we can often get from him, a guy who is professional but has been through this 21 times before and can be a little “been there, done that” about things.
All that is a good sign for the Lakers, but it doesn’t answer the bigger question: Can J.J. Redick get more out of a roster that was a 47-win, play-in, one-and-done playoff team a season ago? There’s a long way to go before that question is answered.
Buy-in from the players is the first step along that path and Redick seems to have it. Throw in an energized LeBron, thanks to Bronny, and it’s all Lakers fans could hope for a couple of days into training camp.
