Bronny James has 4 points in summer league debut for Lakers - ESPN

SAN FRANCISCO — Bronny James made his NBA summer league debut Saturday and was surprised by the warm reception in the city where his father played some of his fiercest NBA Finals battles.

«The atmosphere,» Bronny said when asked what surprised him the most after the Los Angeles Lakers' 108-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings to open up the California Classic. «It was more than I expected. I mean, it's a big game for me, but I didn't know if people from Golden State would come and rep for me. So that was pretty nice to see.»

James finished with 4 points on 2-for-9 shooting, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 22 minutes.

Dane Johnson, the coach of L.A.'s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, started Bronny, 19, along with Colin Castleton, 24, Sean East II, 24, Dalton Knecht, 23, and Maxwell Lewis, 21.

«He's just got to keep learning, keep getting reps and learning how much he's capable of,» Johnson said. «Like, his body, he can get downhill if he uses his shoulder if he has a little bit of an advantage on somebody. And just building that confidence into him.»

It was a far cry from LeBron James' summer league debut in Orlando in 2003, when LeBron put up 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and fans hid under cars in the players-only parking lot to try to get a glimpse of the prospect when he got off the team bus.

Then again, LeBron was the No. 1 pick and Bronny was No. 55. Still, the level of anticipation for Bronny's debut was high, with a row of cameras lining the baseline an hour before tipoff to capture the 6-2 guard's pregame warmups.

Midway through the second quarter, James showed a flash of the defensive promise the Lakers saw when drafting him, stealing a pass and igniting a fast break that ended with a Blake