The Houston Rockets dealt the Lakers a 99-80 blowout loss on Friday in front of a nearly sold out Thomas & Mack Center and a national television audience anxious for an early look at James, the 19-year-old son of Lakers forward LeBron James and the No. 55 pick in this year’s draft.
James appeared on billboards across Las Vegas to advertise the NBA’s annual summer exhibition for younger players and recent draft picks, and an ESPN camera tracked his walk from the team bus into the University of Nevada Las Vegas gym. Earlier Friday, LeBron James talked about forming the NBA’s first father-and-son duo on NBC’s “Today” show.
While his father’s No. 6 and No. 23 jerseys were visible throughout the pro-Lakers crowd, the younger James and his yellow No. 9 uniform were depicted in a massive woven rug that hung on one of the arena concourse’s walls. A life-size poster of Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 San Antonio Spurs center who took Summer League by storm last year, loomed nearby as another unfair comparison.
James’s game doesn’t yet match his fame, and his first Summer League showing was filled with “almosts.” He almost threw down a between-the-legs dunk during warmups but couldn’t quite pull off the trick. He almost finished a lob pass for a transition slam against the Rockets, but the ball caromed off the rim. He almost connected on a few open three-pointers but wound up shooting 0 for 8 for deep — continuing a slump that began this week at the California Classic exhibition tournament in San Francisco.
There were, however, several strong moments against the Rockets: James sliced to the hoop for a smooth layup less than two minutes into the game; converted a nice pass from Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round pick, for a dunk midway through the first quarter; and bounced in a runner during the final period. Defensively, he applied diligent full-court pressure and made a heady steal by dropping into the paint to break up a pick-and-roll pass from Rockets rookie Reed Sheppard.
James finished with eight points (on 3-for-14 shooting), five rebounds, two steals and three turnovers in nearly 27 minutes. Through three summer games, he is averaging five points on 38.5 percent shooting.
“He’s going to have a long career,” said Dane Johnson, coach of the Lakers’ Summer League team. “This is just the beginning. We’re always telling him to be aggressive. We’ll live with the threes he shot tonight. He’s going to make those going forward. He was aggressive in the beginning, and he’s going to keep building on that.”
Sheppard, this year’s No. 3 pick, made things look easy by comparison, posting 23 points, five assists, four rebounds and three blocks. Houston outscored Los Angeles by 21 points in Sheppard’s 30 minutes, and the 20-year-old guard from Kentucky delivered one of the highlights of opening day by shaking Knecht with a hesitation dribble to set up a pretty floater. The wide gap in talent between Sheppard — the first guard selected this year — and James was plain for all to see.
But the Lakers don’t expect James, who played just 25 games as a freshman for the University of Southern California after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest last summer, to be a polished scorer with star potential like Sheppard. Instead, General Manager Rob Pelinka and Coach JJ Redick envision James functioning as a sturdy and pesky on-ball defender like Lu Dort or Davion Mitchell, while working to hone his three-point stroke and off-the-dribble attacks.
James said he would be open to playing for the Lakers’ G League affiliate next season — “I’m looking forward to any basketball no matter what level I’m playing” — and found himself needing to adjust to the “speed” of Summer League play. Still, he held his own physically and didn’t appear overwhelmed by the rows of cameras. James kept shooting when left open on the perimeter by the Rockets, though some fans groaned as his outside misses piled up.
“I always just try to use my athleticism to my advantage,” James said. “It will open up my shot a little bit even though it hasn’t been falling. I just flat missed [the three-pointers]. … I’m getting more comfortable. I’m getting comfortable guarding bigger guys. Every game is getting easier.”
With his father joining USA Basketball in Abu Dhabi this week for a pair of exhibition games before the Paris Olympics, James played in front of his mother, Savannah, as well as a Lakers contingent that included Pelinka and Redick. Asked about James in multiple interviews Friday, Redick praised the rookie’s “terrific” pressure defense and encouraged him to “let go of outcomes and enjoy the process of being in the NBA.”
This first night in Las Vegas brought an unwelcome outcome, but James took another step in his developmental process in relative peace. He didn’t face frenzied mobs of fans or feel the wrath of hecklers. Once the ball went up, the son of the NBA’s most famous player was just another guy trying to make his way in the league.