The stars finally seem to align for Bronny James. Coming into the league as the 55th pick, the 20-year-old had a lot of expectations on him. Most importantly, whenever he failed to deliver, he received the same amount of criticism. Amid this tough situation, James Jr. finally broke his shackles with a career-high performance in the G-League. In response to the uprise, the young gun received a roadmap for the future from JJ Redick.

Tonight, the Lakers coach interacted with the reporters amid the team’s practice session ahead of the Sacramento Kings challenge. At that time, a reporter pursued Redick on Bronny’s recent performances and how he found the rising star in terms of development. The 40-year-old said, “Where I have seen on-court in the G-League, some decision making with the basketball being on the ball, making good decisions mostly as a scorer and a playmaker.” 

However, the reporter wanted more. He pointed out the youngster’s lack of “aggressive personality” and asked JJ how he was going to develop that in Bronny James. Well, it seemed like “aggression” doesn’t matter in Redick’s school of basketball, as he said, “You’re either gonna do things that we’re asking you to do, you’re gonna play or not gonna do those things and you’re not gonna play. It’s very simple, and that’s just the way I am gonna coach the basketball going forward.” 

Moreover, Redick laid out a pathway for Bronny to find his way back to the playing mix with a strong message. The coach added, “Not just for Bronny. What we envisioned for him to able to play and attack, winning, he’s gotta able to baseline do those things. It’s no different from Max Christie and Dalton. You do those things, you will be rewarded with play.” Is that a sign for us to witness more of Bronny in the coming days?

Will Bronny James reflect on JJ’s remarks?

That’s what the reporter wanted to know as well. He asked if Bronny was willing to take JJ Redick’s wisdom. Redick responded, “That has not been a problem at all. He’s very approachable… I told him this, he’s gotta get to this point where it’s okay to fail.” Certainly, Bronny has gone through a rollercoaster ride during this short period.

Unlike other rookies in the league, Bronny has a lot of eyeballs locked in on him. A minor slip-up was enough to call him a “nepotism product”. If he had not taken JJ’s words seriously where it’s okay to fail, he wouldn’t have reached where he had arrived now. The rising star showed first signs of greatness last week when he scored 16 points against the San Diego Clippers.

In the following week, Bronny out-performed himself, scoring a career-high 30 points against the Valley Suns. It was truly a mix of everything from both ends of the court. While his mother Savannah James praised her son via social media, LeBron James has remained silent during his social media hiatus. So, we can confidently say that we are not far away from witnessing a Bronny special in the LA Lakers uniform.