Bronny James has gone to the G League, analyst says he will find his “inner dog” there

Bronny James is headed to the NBA G League and one NBA analyst believes he will find his “inner dog” there.

LeBron's eldest son has been assigned to the G League's South Bay Lakers and is expected to make his debut Saturday against Salt Lake City, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. James will only play home games for South Bay and will rotate between the G League and NBA as the Lakers see fit.

“Maybe he needs to live that (G League) life and figure out what it’s all about,” Boston Celtics analyst and Sirius NBARadio co-host Brian Scalabrine said on the show last month when Bronny finally made it to the G League changed. “Maybe this is exactly what he needs.

“He has to find the inner dog in him and I think he will find that down there. This could be the best thing for him.”

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The 6-foot-3, 20-year-old guard scored a total of four points and played a total of 13 minutes in four games with the Lakers. He has two assists, one rebound and one steal.

Scalabrine said competing against older players and riding buses to games instead of living the high-class life of an NBA player would toughen James up and show whether he can actually compete in the NBA.

“We’ll find out,” Scalabrine said. “We’re not going to find out by sitting on the Lakers’ bench for five minutes…The best part is we’re going to find out. There’s nowhere to go (the G League). There's nowhere to hide. It has a four-year ($7.9 million) term. Deal…This is it. If you go down there, you'll have to fight for your crumbs. And that’s how it will be for him, and we’ll be able to figure it out.”

He added: “If this thing is going to work, Bronny needs to figure out who he is, and probably not as the 12th, 13th or 14th man on the Lakers' bench.” He needs to get himself to the G League, where he plays 30 minutes every night and the boys are at his helm.

“You always realize what you're made of when you're caught in the fire, and I think he's got to be in the fire.”

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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter covering Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his website ZAGSBLOG.com.