‘Most of the tickets sold were to see him’: Bronny’s G League absence leads to disappointment in Mexico City

One of the biggest storylines for the Los Angeles Lakers this season has been the arrival of rookie guard Bronny James, who is the son of franchise star LeBron James. He has spent time in the G League this season, but he hasn’t played in every road game for the South Bay Lakers.

On Friday and Saturday, the South Bay Lakers were down south to take on the Mexico City Capitanes. But the younger James was not with them, as he was instead in Southern California with the Los Angeles Lakers, and it led to some disappointment.

“Most of the tickets sold were to see him,” one fan said, according to a translation on X.

The younger James was taken by the organization with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. While many criticized the decision to draft him and have seemingly been rooting for him to fail, others have seen it as a testament to the elder James’ dedication to fatherhood.

The former University of Southern California Trojan is not even close to being an NBA-caliber player right now, but he has shown some progress, especially offensively, in recent G League games.

On Dec. 12 in a road game versus the Valley Suns, he scored 30 points while hitting on 13 of his 23 field-goal attempts, and last weekend, he went 7-of-14 from the field and made three of his five 3-point attempts during a road game against the Cleveland Charge.

Fans have flocked to see him play, and at Los Angeles Lakers games, fans have occasionally chanted for him to be put in during garbage time. He did briefly play at the end of Friday’s 119-102 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Many originally criticized the organization’s reported plan for the younger James to not play road games in the G League, especially since it is an important part of preparing for the NBA’s grueling travel schedule and learning how to deal with hostile fans.

That plan has apparently been altered a bit (or perhaps the plan was misconstrued in the first place), as he has played in a few road games in both the G League and NBA, but he still isn’t doing so full-time in the G League.