Did Bronny James retire from NBA? (Image Source: IMAGN)

Rumors have recently spread that Bronny James is retiring from the NBA ahead of his G League debut on Saturday. To answer that question, he isn’t retiring at all. After only nine games into the 2024-25 season, James is going to the G League to represent the LA Lakers’ affiliate team, the South Bay Lakers.

On Thursday, after the Lakers had assigned James to the G League, the parody account NBA Centel posted on X that Bronny had announced his retirement. But that is not true.

James will make his debut with South Bay on Saturday when the team faces the Salt Lake City Stars. According to multiple sources, tickets to Bronny’s G League debut are already sold out. His debut is very timely too as it’ll also be South Bay’s season opener.

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It’s worth noting that Bronny James will be shuttling back and forth between South Bay and LA. He will only suit up in the G League for South Bay’s home games. That means that Bronny will be on the main roster when South Bay is on the road.

Why is Bronny James being sent to the G League?
 

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers at Memphis Grizzlies – Source: Imagn

Since Bronny James got drafted earlier this summer, LA Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealed that the organization’s plan from day one was to send LeBron James’ son to the G League.

However, his case is quite different because he won’t primarily play for the South Bay Lakers. Coach Redick mentioned that he’ll come back to the main roster every once in a while.

“Our plans are always fluid based on real time. I believe we have two guys dressing today that as of yesterday were not dressing out,” Redick said in late October. “The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. [General manager] Rob [Pelinka] and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that.”

Sources reported that James will play heavy minutes for South Bay, giving him more time to develop. The experiences he’ll gain in the G League will be put to the test whenever he comes back to LA.

As of his first nine NBA games, it’s clear that the young James still needs to improve on a lot of aspects of his game. During his debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he couldn’t get a rhythm going as he was shut down by Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert before getting benched.