To those people saying “Bronny James will get there someday”, the 20-year-old has certainly been making efforts to prove them right over the last couple of weeks. Being LeBron James’ son, the pressure was immense on him, despite being a 55th overall pick. Fortunately, the young star responded in kind by making some memorable strides in the G-League, recording a career-high 17 points with the Lakers, and slowly moving on up. Now, just as the Lakers are set to conclude their regular season, Bronny is very close to surpassing a rookie record of Michael Jordan himself! While he did not need any additional advantage to help him cross the threshold, the Lakers have nevertheless provided one to him.

According to reports, the upcoming Los Angeles Lakers-Portland Trail Blazers game will feature a different set of starters. LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, aka 4 of the 5 regular starters of the team, are currently experiencing injury issues. Therefore, this gives a chance for the underdogs to kick off the matchup. Amongst them is Bronny James, who will start in his very first NBA game! Not only will the 20-year-old get a chance to start before the regular season concludes, this change will also give him a big head-start.

All he needs to do is make 1 more 3-pointer to surpass the record of 9 3-pointers set by Michael Jordan in his own rookie season! Bronny James typically does not get a lot of playtime. Throughout 26 games, he has averaged only 3 minutes, allowing him to possess an average score of only 2.2 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.6 assists. On the shooting front, the player averages 0.7-2.2 (33.3%) field goals, 0.3-1.2 (30.0%) 3-pointers, and 0.4-0.5 (78.6%) free throws.

Therefore, having some extra minutes on his belt will ensure he gets more opportunities to shoot. In the end, all Bronny needs to make is just one more 3-pointer, and he will enter the history books. As a result, NBA fans have already gotten excited over what is to come next.

NBA Fans react to Bronny James potentially set to surpass Michael Jordan’s record: “master class loading”

Being a starter may allow Bronny to perform better than he did in his recent games. After all, in his last 3 games, the player played for only 4, 2, and 2 minutes. He scored only 3, 0, and 3 points, respectively. Both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have averaged 35.1 minutes and 34.9 minutes with the Lakers this season. While the 20-year-old will certainly not get that many minutes as a starter, his time can still reach the double-digits.

One social media user wrote:

Well, we won’t know until we see it for ourselves. Another individual highlighted Bronny’s upcoming record feat, “Most three points than Jordan’s rookie season”. The young star might surely surpass Michael Jordan’s rookie 3-point record. However, it is important also to remember that the same would not diminish Michael Jordan’s greatness. Jordan came from an era when 3-pointers were not emphasized as much. He averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 1,072 career games over 15 seasons. However, Jordan only averaged 0.8-2.5 (33.2%) 3-pointers. While Bronny surpassing this record will nevertheless be remarkable, it might be one of the lower-value records that MJ finished his career with.

One social media user used the upcoming record-breaking feat to appeal for Bronny James, writing, “give him significant minutes”. Several factors like Bronny being the 55th overall pick, the Lakers’ current depth, the player’s experience with the Lakers, and his overall ability to perform affect his on-court minutes. During the earlier games, things were much worse for Bronny, and he was even called in only for a game’s final minute.

Not minutes, minute! Even SNL made a joke about the same, highlighting just how little play-time Bronny used to get. One individual wrote, “I knew that there was a GOAT named James… 🤣”. This was, of course, a reference to the long-running Michael Jordan-LeBron James GOAT debate.

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via Imago

One social media user wrote, “He’s dropping 30”. Well, the Lakers have already occupied the 3rd seed on the Western Conference table. There is no pressure on them to win the matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers. Therefore, there is no better opportunity than now for Bronny to experiment with his shooting.

As 8:24 minutes remained in the 2nd quarter, Bronny James had been on the court for 11 minutes. Despite this, he had not scored even 1 point. Hopefully, that will change as the game progresses. Overall, the majority of reactions saw fans speaking in support of Bronny James. Amidst all the scrutiny the young player receives, these messages highlight that Bronny still has supporters on his side. By breaking MJ’s 3-point record, the youngster may as well kickstart a resurgence of sorts.