Despite his criticism of Bronny James recently, Jaylen Brown actually struggled more during his first three NBA Summer League games in 2016. In his first three Summer League games, Bronny James has gone 6-26 from the field. Whereas Jaylen Brown actually went 5-26 in his first three Summer League games.
Bronny James scored 4 points in his first Summer League game, going 2-9 from the field. In his second game, he put up 3 points, going 1-3 from the field, and in his third game, he put up 8 points, going 3-14 from the field. After his first three games, Bronny James had scored a total of 15 points, on 6-26 shooting.
As for Jaylen Brown, he had 16 points in his first Summer League game, going 2-7 from the field, and 11-17 from the free-throw line. During his second game, Brown went 3-13 while scoring 9 points. And in his last game, he put up just 5 points, all from the free-throw line, going 0-6 from the field.
Brown ended his first three games with 30 points in three games, going 5-26 from the field, and 17-24 from the free-throw line.
While Brown’s scoring totals were better, it was clear that he got to the line far more often than Bronny ever did. And this was likely because he played more minutes than Bronny in those games, and was trusted more with the ball because he was the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Bronny James was able to break his spell of bad form, as he put up solid numbers in the Lakers’ Summer League win over the Hawks, putting up 12 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal, while shooting 5-11 from the field, and 2-5 from the three-point line. His game was not all perfect, as he strangely got a technical foul early in the game.
Bronny James picked up a technical foul after this drive 🤔 pic.twitter.com/IoNXtkhXMO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 18, 2024
As things stand, Bronny is averaging 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in his five Summer League games, shooting 12-42 from the field and 2-20 from the three-point line.
By comparison, Jaylen Brown played six total Summer League games, and averaged 16.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, going 32-55 from the field, and 5-22 from beyond the arc.
While Brown eventually picked up his performances, he did have some inconsistent games. And it may have been slightly unfair of him to judge Bronny in the moment like he did. However, Brown did later praise Bronny and say he looks forward to his development.
Gilbert Arenas Calls Out Jaylen Brown For Bronny Criticism
Gilbert Arenas also criticized Jaylen Brown for his comments, bringing up his own misfortunes during his Summer League debut. He added that Brown didn’t have to suffer the same abuse and criticism that Bronny did, despite being a top-three pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
“Jaylen Brown. Do you know what they said about him in Summer League? He was the third pick in the NBA Draft… The first three games, just like Bronny – Bronny was 6-26? Jaylen Brown was 5-26 from the field in his first three games in the Summer League. He’s fine! No one bashed him and he was the third pick in the draft!”
Gilbert Arenas calls out Jaylen Brown
"He [Brown] was the 3rd pick in the NBA Draft. The first 3 games, just like Bronny. Bronny was 6-26, and Jaylen Brown was 5-26 in his first 3 games in summer league."
(🎥 @GilsArenaShow )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 18, 2024
Arenas makes a very valid point about the criticism being leveled at Bronny James. While James has underperformed, no doubt, the criticism has been significantly heightened given his name.
James is a second-round draft pick expected to play in the G-League for most of next season, so his poor numbers, while not an encouraging sign, are to be expected.
Many analysts, prior to Bronny’s entry into the NBA, had warned people to temper their expectations of him. But given his name is such a magnetic topic in the media, there were bound to be people who would blow his poor performances out of proportion.
James’ last performance seems to suggest he is slowly regaining his confidence, and figuring things out. It will be important that James continues to play his game, tune out the outside noise, and focus on improving at his own pace.
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