Bronny James bounces back with 12 points, Lakers tops Hawks 87-86 at Summer League

Bronny James made four of his first five shots, including his first 3-pointer of the summer on his 17th attempt. He finished 5 for 11 from the field, 2 for 5 from 3-point range.

Bronny James Jr. #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers scores against Emmitt Matthews Jr. #16 of the Atlanta Hawks in the first half of a 2024 NBA Summer League game at the Thomas & Mack Center on July 17, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. | Photo Credit: Getty Images via AFP

Bronny James got some shots to fall Wednesday night in perhaps his best performance out of his five games with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.

The son of NBA career-scoring leader LeBron James finished with 12 points in the Lakers’ 87-86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Summer League.

Bronny James made four of his first five shots, including his first 3-pointer of the summer on his 17th attempt. He finished 5 for 11 from the field, 2 for 5 from 3-point range.

The shooting was a major improvement. James entered Wednesday 7 for 31 from the field this summer and 4 for 19 in his two games at Las Vegas.

For the summer — now three games in Las Vegas, plus two others earlier this month at the California Classic in San Francisco — the No. 55 pick in this year’s draft is averaging 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game on 29% shooting.

Bronny James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season in his lone year of college basketball at Southern California, appearing in the team’s final 25 games. He wasn’t able to start the season after needing a procedure to fix what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defect, which was found after he went into cardiac arrest during a workout last summer.