The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for a 2024-25 NBA season that will have added buzz around their franchise thanks to their No. 55 overall pick Bronny James being in town next to his father and franchise player LeBron James. The younger James overcame a world of media attention during and after his freshman season at USC and successfully got drafted, despite many believing that he needed more time to develop his game.
Ahead of the 2024 media day on Monday, though, those sentiments resurfaced at the mouth of one of the best to ever don a Lakers jersey. Lakers: Magic Johnson does not think Bronny James is ready for the NBA yet Lakers legend and Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson was a recent guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! On the late-night talk show, the former three-time league MVP gave this bold take about Bronny’s NBA readiness and charted out a course of action he feels would be most conducive for the 19-year-old to take in 2024-25 (h/t Ryan Ward of Lakers Nation): “If I’m Bronny, I would tell my dad just let me play in the G League all season so that I can develop,” Johnson said. “He needs playing time.
He doesn’t need to be sitting on the Laker bench and not playing. And that’s not a knock against him, he’s just not ready. He needs to develop more, and then he will be ready.
Because he has some great talent and skills, but he needs to develop those skills at a much better clip if he wants to play 15-20 minutes a night in the NBA or more.” Johnson’s plea for .