LeBron James was standing in the back of the room, but the spotlight was on the future of the Lakers Tuesday when draft picks Bronny James and Dalton Knecht were introduced at a team news conference.
The event at the team’s training center in El Segundo was the first news conference with the two new Lakers. Rob Pelinka, the Lakers’ VP of basketball operations and general manager, and JJ Redick, the team’s new coach, were at the news conference.
James, the 19-year-old son of LeBron James, has commanded most of the attention after he was drafted in the second round last week out of USC. The No. 55 overall pick played an abbreviated season at USC after recovering from a heart issue. His unusual path to the NBA included workouts with only for the Lakers and Phoenix Suns ahead of the draft.
Both father and son expressed a desire to team up in Los Angeles.
“Everything’s been surreal, trying to take it all in,” Bronny James said. “I’m extremely grateful for everything that (coach) JJ (Redick) and (general manager) Rob (Pelinka) have given to me. I’ve just been excited to get to work.”
In his lone season with the Trojans, Bronny James was limited to 490 minutes over 25 games with six starts. He missed the first eight games of the season while recovering from a medical procedure to treat a congenital heart defect.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 210-pound guard averaged 4.8 points per game.
Assuming there are no surprise offseason moves, LeBron and Bronny James will become the first-ever father-son duo to team up in an NBA game. Over the weekend, it was reported than James plans to opt out of his current contract and re-join the Lakers on a new deal.
“It’s for sure an amplified amount of pressure,” Bronny James said. “I’ve already seen it — social media and the internet and stuff talking about how I might not deserve an opportunity. But, you know, I’ve been dealing with stuff like this my whole life. So it’s nothing different, but it’s more amplified for sure. But I’ll get through it.”
Redick, in his first head coaching job, said Bronny James has earned an NBA opportunity.
“Rob and I did not give Bronny anything,” Redick said. “Bronny has earned this. Bronny talks about his hard work. Bronny has earned this through hard work.
“We view Bronny as like Case Study 1, because his base level of feel, athleticism, point-of-attack defender, shooting, passing, there is a lot to like about his game. He’s going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player.”
And then there’s Knect, a sharpshooter out of Tennessee who might not be the center of attention at the introductory news conference, but could be central to the Lakers’ success moving forward. The 23-year-old guard, the No. 17 overall pick, was one of the college game’s top scorers last season, averaging 22 points per game.
Redick said the team was surprised to find Knecht at No. 17.
“We didn’t think Dalton would be available at 17 but he provides something that we just don’t have,” Redick said. “He’s a movement shooter. He can obviously play off the bounce. We viewed him very highly on our draft board, and he can score at all three levels. … There was a lot of things to be excited about with Dalton. I’m excited to coach him.”
