Lakers’ Bronny James Dealing With Injury, Out for Preseason Finale

Oct 14, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA: Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) against the Phoenix Suns during an NBA preseason game at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Second-year Los Angeles Lakers point guard Bronny James has been ruled out for the team's Friday preseason finale against the Sacramento Kings with a new injury.

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According to Jovan Buha of "Buha's Block," Bronny James will be joining his 40-year-old dad, 21-time All-NBA superstar power forward LeBron James, and LA's lone rookie draft pick this year, former Arkansas Razorbacks forward Adou Thiero, on the sidelines.

Buha notes that everyone else will be available — which means that Jarred Vanderbilt will return after exiting the Lakers' 121-94 preseason loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday with an injury, and reserve center Maxi Kleber will make his preseason debut.

The Lakers will have 11 of their 14 official roster players available in tonight’s preseason finale vs. Sacramento, with LeBron James, Adou Thiero and Bronny James the only players unavailable.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) October 17, 2025

Thiero has been shelved for the entirety of training camp as he recuperates from a knee injury. LeBron James has been dealing with sciatica on his right side since the middle of the summer, and will miss at least the first week of the regular season before he has the injury reassessed.

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News of the Bronny James injury is relatively fresh. He was a late scratch ahead of the Dallas loss on Wednesday with an ankle ailment, which appears to be lingering. Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported that James suffered the injury on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns. Los Angeles lost that game, too, 113-104.

Why the NBA scheduled back-to-back bouts during the preseason is anyone's guess.

Across four preseason games for Los Angeles this year, the 6-foot-2 USC product has been averaging 6.8 points on .250/.154/.846 shooting splits, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.5 blocks in 21.3 minutes per.

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The younger James was selected with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by Los Angeles, on a bit of a flier. The 20-year-old remains a fairly raw talent, and for now projects to be, at best, a point-of-attack defensive threat off the bench in an NBA rotation.

Whether he'll be able to do that this year, or even while his dad is still a Laker at all, remains to be seen.

A Big Year for Bronny James?

He didn't crack the Lakers' standard roster rotation in 2024-25 as a rookie, averaging just 2.3 points, 0.8 assists and 0.7 rebounds in 27 games, while mostly playing mop-up minutes.

Still, Bronny did impress at the G League level, averaging 21.9 points on .443/.380/.815 shooting splits, 5.3 boards, 5.3 dimes, and 1.9 steals in 11 regular season games.

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.