Bronny James shines, but summer Lakers fall to Clippers
In their third game of the Las Vegas summer league, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Los Angeles Clippers and looked to build on their victory on Saturday over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Monday's game between the Lakers and Clippers was an ugly one. Neither team shot above 40% from the field or 30% from 3-point range, and they combined for 36 turnovers. Los Angeles was just 5-of-13 from the free throw line and 34.4% overall from the field.
L.A. gave up 10 unanswered points in the first quarter and fell behind 19-10. It fought back to make things competitive, but down the stretch, it couldn't manufacture points, as it didn't score in the final three minutes of play, leading to a 67-58 loss.
Still, this was a good night for Bronny James. The second-year Lakers guard scored a dozen points in the first half and finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 field-goal shooting and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, five rebounds and five assists. He looks a lot more poised and comfortable on the court than he did just several months ago, and he didn't look to force things offensively.
Forward Cole Swider scored 16 points, with eight of them coming in the fourth quarter. But it was a rough game for Dalton Knecht, who made just three of his 15 shot attempts and one of his eight 3-point tries.
L.A.'s reserves scored a total of just two points, with both points coming on free throws.
For the Clippers, forward Jordan Miller had a game-high 19 points.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Lakers' full 2025-26 preseason schedule has been revealed
It may be the middle of the summer, but before we know it, it will be time for NBA teams to report to training camp and start the new season. About two months ago, the Los Angeles Lakers announced their preseason schedule for the upcoming season. They will have games at Arena versus the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, as well as a contest at Acrisure Arena in greater Palm Springs against the Phoenix Suns and one in Las Vegas against the Dallas Mavericks. Their full preseason schedule has now been revealed, per Khobi Price of Southern California News Group. The Lakers will also play a road game on Oct. 5 versus the Warriors and another one against the Suns on Oct. 14. One thing to note is that the Lakers will have a set of back-to-back games on Oct. 14 and Oct. 15, as well as a total of four games in six games to close out their exhibition schedule. It will therefore be interesting to see how much the team's veterans, especially LeBron James, will play during that stretch. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: The Lakers' full 2025-26 preseason schedule has been revealed
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Luka Doncic made a bold statement about wanting to win the NBA championship now
Now that Luka Doncic has agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers, they can completely focus their attention on building a championship team around him. They have already done some of that work this offseason by addressing their gaping hole at the center with the signing of Deandre Ayton while also bringing in 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. Many feel the Lakers don't have a truly championship-caliber roster yet. But now that they're catering to Doncic, they may be starting to feel the urgency to build one as soon as possible. In May, the superstar met with general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick at a restaurant. Per ESPN, he made it clear that he wants to win an NBA championship as soon as he can. "I don't want to wait," Doncic told the table, a source familiar with the conversation told ESPN. "I had a taste of the Finals. I am getting back there. So let's do whatever we can now." Doncic reached the NBA Finals in 2024 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks about eight months before they traded him to the Lakers. They lost in five games to the Boston Celtics there, and it was around that time that criticism of his lack of fitness and conditioning started to grow louder. He has gotten much slimmer and fitter this summer, and thus, this could very well be the start of a promising new chapter in his career.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
"You can't have everything for too long" - Kareem talks about LeBron overtaking him as the NBA's all-time scoring leader
"You can't have everything for too long" - Kareem talks about LeBron overtaking him as the NBA's all-time scoring leader originally appeared on Basketball Network. Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Wilt Chamberlain's all-time scoring record on April 5, 1984, and added to it before retiring in 1989. Abdul-Jabbar was the golden standard for 38 years until LeBron James shattered his mark in 2023. During his recent appearance on "The Jennifer Hudson Show," the all-time great fondly known as The Captain talked about surrendering one of the NBA's most iconic records to the current Lakers superstar. "LeBron has earned it," said Abdul-Jabbar. "He's worked hard for 20 years. I mean, more power to him. I didn't really play to deal with records. I wanted to lead my team to the championship. And I was fortunate enough to be on the winning team six times, and I was MVP twice. I'm satisfied with that." Kareem was just too good, too dominant Aside from six NBA championships, Abdul-Jabbar also led Power Memorial Academy to three straight New York City Catholic League titles and UCLA to three consecutive NCAA men's basketball championships, making him one of the sport's ultimate winners. Because he was the best player on his team, KAJ also took home many individual accolades and was almost always the top scorer. The same thing happened when he was in the NBA. Kareem was the NBA's scoring champion during his second and third years in the league, when he also won his first two MVP awards. Abdul-Jabbar averaged over 26 points per game in each of his first eight NBA seasons and was a 20-point scorer in his first 17 years. So it wasn't because Cap wanted to break Wilt's record; he was just so good, unstoppable, and durable that he was able to break it. "You can't have everything for too long. Records were made to be broken, and more power to LeBron. I hope he enjoys it, does all that he wants to do with during his career and after his career. He's had an incredible career. He does things, incredible things, off the court and on the court. Off the court, he sent a whole school district to college. And then on the court, he's crushed everybody for 20 years now. So he deserves it and I hope he enjoys it," he has pushed the record to 42,184 points In Kareem's case, he played five more years after breaking Wilt's record and padded it from 31,420 to 38,387 when he retired. Meanwhile, since breaking KAJ's record, LBJ has gone from 38,388 to 42,184. And although he is 40 years old, going 41, James is coming off a ridiculous Year 22 season where he averaged 24.4 points per game and made the All-NBA second team. Unless he suddenly suffers a steep decline this year, King James could push the record even farther to a number where no one might ever break it. Last year, Bron became the first player to score 40,000 career points. In March, the Purple & Gold superstar also became the first player to score 50,000 points combined in the regular season and playoffs. However, more than those, the LeBron number that stands out more to Kareem is 1,300. That's the number of students that James' "I Promise School" has served since its inception in 2018. In 2020, all 193 students in its inaugural batch were awarded four years of free college tuition to attend Kent State University, plus one year of board and lodging fully paid for. Last year, Anthony Claytor became the first of those students to finish school and story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
