Bronny James scores 6 points in first G-League game as LeBron, Lakers teammates watch courtside

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Bronny James' G League debut in many ways mirrored his first couple months with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He's trying to find his role.

James started and scored six points on Saturday as the South Bay Lakers defeated the Salt Lake City Stars 110-96.

“I haven’t been with the team as much as I can to figure out what my role is on that team. So I’m just going out and playing my game and just hooping,” James said.

James — the 20-year-old son of LeBron James — was 2 of 9 from the field, including 0 of 4 on 3-pointers. The 6-foot-3 guard also had three rebounds, four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

He was added to South Bay's roster on Thursday, after the Lakers completed a five-game road trip.

Saturday marked the most action Bronny has had in a game since the Lakers’ preseason finale against Golden State on Oct. 18, when he played 35 minutes and scored 15 points.

“I think he did a great job dictating on the ball. He got the first bucket of the game ... He played great, he played unselfishly, he played within the flow of the game,” South Bay coach Zach Guthrie said. “And I thought, like all our guards, we defended at a high level.”

LeBron watched the game from courtside seats on the opposite side of the main stands with his wife, Savannah, and their 10-year old daughter Zuri. Gloria James, Bronny’s grandmother, also was in attendance, along with Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.

LeBron and Lakers coach J.J. Redick have said repeatedly Bronny will spend ample time this season in the G League as he works on his game.

Bronny has played in five games for the Lakers, scoring four points in 14 combined minutes of action. He was in for the final 1:28 of the Lakers 116-106 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night.

LeBron and Bronny made NBA history on Oct. 22 when they became the first father and son to play together during the Lakers’ season-opening win over Minnesota.

Saturday got off to a good start for Bronny when he scored on his initial possession, hitting a pull-up jumper 43 seconds into the game.

“I was just getting a bucket. It got to me and I just … yeah. I didn’t miss,” he said.

Bronny's other basket was a floater in the lane during the second quarter. He also had a free throw in the fourth quarter. The G-League has an experimental free-throw rule this season where one foul shot could be worth two or three points for any foul not during the last two minutes that would typically result in two or three free throws being shot.

Bronny showed off his passing ability late in the first quarter with a nifty lob to Kylor Kelley for an alley-oop.

Midway through the second quarter, Bronny partially blocked Isaiah Wong’s layup before Quincy Olivari grabbed the rebound. Maxwell Lewis finished with a 3-pointer on the other end of the court to put the Lakers up 40-28.

Bronny's debut drew an overflow crowd to the Lakers training complex, where South Bay plays its games. The capacity of the UCLA Health Training Center is 676.

“It felt pretty good to go out there and just play my game. Not much difference. I was just playing basketball. It felt good,” said Bronny, who was the 55th overall pick in the 2024 draft in June after averaging 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 25 games for Southern California last season. “I’ve seen all the buzz from me going to the G. It’s just an amazing experience for me to go out and play my game and get some minutes under me. I’m just excited for it.”

Salt Lake City coach Steve Wojciechowski admitted it was a different atmosphere compared to other G League road games.

“I mean, this doesn’t normally happen after a G League game. I’m like, on my second slice of pizza by now,” he said about doing a postgame interview. "It’s exciting for the G League and it brings eyeballs to our league. And we have one of the best leagues in the world. Maybe the third best league in the world after the NBA and EuroLeague.

"His story is bringing attention not just to South Bay, but the league in general and for the guys who play in the league. And so the more eyeballs on those stories, even if it’s generated by this exceptional story, is great for the league."

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South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James gets up from the court during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game against the Salt Lake City Stars, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James walks down the court during the second half of an NBA G League basketball game against the Salt Lake City Stars Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James (9) drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game against the Salt Lake City Stars, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James walks on the court during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game against the Salt Lake City Stars, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James (9) walks on the court during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game against the Salt Lake City Stars Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James (9) dribbles against Salt Lake City Stars forward Jason Preston, right, during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

South Bay Lakers guard Bronny James holds the ball during the first half of an NBA G League basketball game against the Salt Lake City Stars, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Mixed reviews didn’t dissuade mass audiences from buying tickets to the “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which scored the biggest opening of the year for a Hollywood movie. The Illumination and Nintendo co-production earned $130.9 million over the weekend and a massive $190.1 million in its first five days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Universal Pictures released the sequel globally on Wednesday, capitalizing on kids’ spring break vacations in the week leading up to the Easter holiday. With an estimated $182.4 million from 80 overseas markets, the film is looking at an astronomical $372.5 million debut — the latest hit for the PG rating. Mexico is leading the international bunch with $29.1 million from 5,136 screens, followed by the U.K. and Ireland with $19.7 million.

The animated sequel, Illumination CEO Christopher Meledandri's 16th movie in 16 years, is the industry’s biggest debut since “Avatar: Fire and Ash” launched over Christmas. The Chinese movie “Pegasus 3,” which was not a Motion Picture Association release, has the slight edge for the 2026 global record, however.

It’s also a dip from the first film, which opened to $204 million domestically during the same five-day time frame in 2023 ($147 of that was from Friday, Saturday and Sunday). “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” went on to be the second biggest movie of 2023, with over $1.3 billion in box office receipts.

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which features returning voice actors Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Day, had a massive footprint in the U.S. and Canada, where it played in 4,252 theaters, including 421 IMAX and 1,345 premium large format screens. It made $15 million from the IMAX screens alone.

“It’s exactly the kind of broad, crowd-pleasing release that brings people into theatres,” AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.

It also cost around $110 million to make, not including marketing and promotion expenses. But it arrived on a wave of less-than-stellar reviews. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at a lousy 40%. Ticket buyers were more enthusiastic, however.

The family audience gave the movie five out of five stars according to PostTrak exit polls, while general audiences gave it four stars and an A- on CinemsScore. Audiences skewed male (61%) overall, although when it came to families attending there were slightly more moms (52%) than dads.

“These kind of audience reaction scores just point to a ridiculously strong run, not only throughout the spring, but likely into the summer as well,” said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution.

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” will open in Japan later this month.

Last year, the first weekend in April hosted the launch of another video game blockbuster, “A Minecraft Movie,” which had a bigger three-day debut ($162.8 million) but didn’t have a “Project Hail Mary” in a strong second place, meaning the weekend overall is still up around 5%.

As expected, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ended the two-week reign of the Ryan Gosling-led sci-fi hit “Project Hail Mary,” which landed in second its third weekend in theaters where it added $30.7 million, bringing its running domestic total to $217.2 million. Worldwide, it's made $420.7 million to date.

Third place went to A24’s provocative new movie “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, which made an estimated $14.4 million from 3,087 theaters. The film’s stars have been on a massive and charming press blitz to promote their R-rated movie about a engaged couple grappling with an unnerving revelation, which cost a reported $28 million to produce. The reveal has drummed up a fair amount of cultural discourse. While reviews have been more positive than not (82% on Rotten Tomatoes), it got a less promising B CinemaScore.

“Hoppers” and “Reminders of Him” rounded out the top five. And the box office outlook looks bright overall, up around 30% from last year.

“There’s no better opening act for a great summer than a huge month of April powered by a mega blockbuster like the 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,'" said Paul Dergarabedian, comscore's head of marketplace trends.

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1.“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $130.9 million.

2.“Project Hail Mary,” $30.7 million.

3.“The Drama,” $14.4 million.

4.“Hoppers,” $5.8 million.

5.“Reminders of Him,” $2.2 million.

6.“A Great Awakening,” $2.1 million.

7.“They Will Kill You,” $1.9 million.

8.“Dhurandhar The Revenge,” $1.9 million.

9.“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” $1.8 million.

10.“Scream 7,” 915,000.

Actress Zendaya, left, and actor Robert Pattinson pose for photographers as they arrive for the Italian premiere of the movie "The Drama," in Rome, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)