Bronny James swells amid unexpected turnout at G League debut: He's a great player

After making NBA history by sharing the court with his dad, Bronny James has taken a bit of a detour relative to LeBron James. Bronny made five appearances totaling 14 minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers, but the franchise's plan for their superstar's son has always been clear: regular minutes in the developmental G League to help him along.

Lakers head coach J.J. Redick envisions Bronny becoming a valuable role player who can shoot 3-pointers and lock up opposing guards. Fans at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, California got their first glimpse of Bronny in the G League on Saturday as he suited up for the South Bay Lakers -- and the for the 20-year-old as he begins this journey could not be more vociferous.

LeBron and AD were looking on

As Bronny's G League debut for South Bay neared, his father LeBron, mother Savannah, and NBA superstar/family friend Anthony Davis took their seats for warmups, taking advantage of a Lakers off day prior to a home game against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night.

Despite the star-studded , Bronny had only a modest G League debut. Although South Bay defeated the Salt Lake City Stars, 110-96, Bronny finished with six points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals, one block, and five turnovers in 31 minutes. Those stats are unlikely to silence the James family's critics, who have slammed LeBron -- as well as Bronny -- for engineering the former USC Trojan's draft-night move to the Lakers.

However, Bronny will take comfort in the fact that teammate Quincy Olivari went to bat for him during postgame media availability -- a further reminder to the young guard that he is best served by tuning out the noise, as difficult as it may be.

"I was just happy to see Bronny get out there and show the world that he can play," Olivari said. "I'm a big advocate on pushing that he's a great player and the criticism he gets is unfair."