Bronny James made headlines by entering the 2024 NBA Draft on Friday. If you've seen his stats during his one year at USC, that might be surprising.
Bronny's struggles during his first year are very self-evident after even a quick glance at his box score. But there are certainly unusual and extenuating circumstances behind his play. Bad freshman years also aren't the death knell they appear.
MORE: Why did Bronny James leave USC?
Here's why there's a lot more behind Bronny's freshman stats than you might think.
Bronny James stats
Bronny almost immediately had his freshman season derailed after he suffered cardiac arrest during summer workouts. That very serious incident caused him to miss the first four months of his freshman season, forcing him to play catch up the rest of the year.
James further saw his stats hurt by his role at USC. He was behind numerous other more heralded or productive recruits. His 19.3 minutes per game ranked ninth on the team, and he started in just six of his 25 games.
Bronny showed flashes of being able to create on-ball in high school. He was a good defender with a high understanding of the game. His plus shooting allowed him to attack closeouts hard, collapsing defenses and setting up teammates for great shots.
All of that evaporated at USC. James' shot completely abandoned him, and the rest of his game fell apart with it. He also wasn't afforded very many opportunities to have the ball and utilize that plus feel.
Here are his full stats on the season:
| Games | 25 |
| Minutes | 19.3 |
| FG% | 36.6 |
| 3P% | 26.7 |
| FT% | 67.6 |
| Points | 4.8 |
| Rebounds | 2.8 |
| Assists | 2.1 |
| Steals | 0.8 |
| Blocks | 0.2 |
Bronny James NBA comparisons
Bronny's stats clearly do not look like that of a typical NBA prospect. For example, take his teammate Isaiah Collier, who is being mocked in the lottery. Collier is averaging 16.5 points to Bronny's 4.8.
MORE: NBA Draft prospects 2024: Ranking the top 60 players
Let's not sugarcoat it — Bronny did not look like a future NBA player through 25 games. There have been plenty of good NBA guards who have struggled badly during their freshman years, though. Here is a list of guards who also failed to produce during their first year of college.
| Player | FG% | 3PT% | Points (game) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wesley Matthews | 38.9 | 43.8 | 9.0 |
| Jrue Holiday | 45.0 | 30.7 | 8.5 |
| Kyle Lowry | 42.1 | 22.7 | 7.5 |
| Donovan Mitchell | 44.2 | 25.0 | 7.4 |
| Khris Middleton | 52.3 | 32.4 | 7.2 |
| Terry Rozier | 40.1 | 37.1 | 7.0 |
| Bronny James | 36.6 | 26.7 | 4.8 |
| Russell Westbrook | 45.7 | 40.9 | 3.4 |
What's important to note from all of those players (with the exception of Jrue Holiday) is that they all stayed on for at least another year of college. That extra seasoning allowed them to work on their holes, show improvement, and have great NBA careers.
To take a more recent example, Denver selected Peyton Watson out of UCLA with the 30th pick in the 2022 draft and turned him into a solid rotation player. Watson averaged just 3.3 points on 32.2 percent shooting in his lone year of college ball. The comparison isn't quite apples-to-apples given that Watson is a hyper-athletic 6-foot-8 wing while Bronny is a 6-foot-4 guard, but it does illustrate that potential can be more important than production.
What isn't up for debate is that Bronny had an extremely difficult freshman year, due to factors that were partly out of his control. After entering the transfer portal and the draft, he will have a fresh start somewhere. He is too good of a prospect to keep up those mediocre numbers.
Don't count Bronny out yet. He could follow that same trajectory of a Kyle Lowry or Wes Matthews, becoming a knock-down shooter and defensive pest for a good NBA team.
