Los Angeles wants to see James have the ball in his hands as much as possible, particularly in “tight moments.”

“Yeah, we want him to play on the ball,” Harding said, via the LA Times. “Especially in tight moments, I like the ball in his hands and I want him to make those decisions. You can go through as many drills as you want, but nothing beats live.”

Despite starting at point guard, James cedes a lot of touch time to ball-dominant guards Dalton Knecht, RJ Davis and DJ Steward. Yet, true to Harding’s comments, James is typically the player with the ball in his hands late in games. Los Angeles drew up a play for him on the final possession of their first Summer League game, allowing him to take a potential game-winning three-pointer in a two-point loss against the Dallas Mavericks.

So far, James has played two games at the California Classic and two at the Las Vegas Summer League. He is averaging 8.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game across the four contests.

Bronny James’ big NBA Summer League game vs. Pelicans

James had his best outing in the Lakers’ second Summer League against the New Orleans Pelicans. With Knecht sitting out, James dropped 14 points, one rebound, three assists, two steals and one block in 24 minutes.

James’ 14 points marked a new Summer League career-high and the most he ever scored in a single game in his professional career outside of the G-League. He did the work with his father and teammate, LeBron James, in the crowd.

While not a highly-touted prospect, Bronny James is still clearly one of the biggest draws of the 2025 NBA Summer League. Coming off the win over the Pelicans, the Lakers have at least two more exhibition matchups against the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics before Summer League playoffs begin.