Bronny James was forced to watch from the sidelines as the Los Angeles Lakers fell 99-93 in Wednesday’s Game 5 home matchup against the Houston Rockets.
After carving out rotation minutes in the first four contests of the first-round Western Conference playoff series, Bronny was completely omitted from LA’s lineup amid the return of star guard Austin Reaves. However, after the Lakers’ Game 5 struggles, calls swiftly began mounting for the sophomore guard to be given another chance.
NBA World Rallies Behind Bronny James After Game 5 DNP-CD
Bronny’s minutes and impact had been gradually increasing leading up to Game 5, with the 21-year-old turning heads with his improved playmaking and shooting, while delivering his signature defensive effort.
After going scoreless in Games 1 and 2, Bronny scored 10 points across Games 3 and 4, making history alongside his father, Lakers star LeBron James.
Unfortunately for the reserve, Reaves made his highly anticipated return to LA’s lineup on Wednesday after being out since April 2 due to a Grade 2 left oblique strain, and soaked up all of Bronny’s playing time.
Reaves logged 34 minutes off the bench, with Lakers coach JJ Redick utilizing a tight nine-man rotation. Aside from the backcourt standout’s 22-point effort on inefficient 4-for-16 shooting (25%), LA mustered just 4 bench points, with starting shooting guard Luke Kennard also registering only 1 point on 0-for-4 shooting.
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The Lakers needed any spark they could get, as Houston dug in defensively and received a well-rounded team effort offensively. All five Rockets starters scored 12-plus points, led by Jabari Smith Jr.’s 22-point performance in star forward Kevin Durant’s absence (ankle).
Houston led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before LA rallied to come within one possession. However, LeBron and Co. repeatedly couldn’t connect from beyond the arc in crunch time as they stumbled to their second straight loss since taking a commanding 3-0 series lead.
During and after the letdown performance, X users took note of Bronny’s on-court absence.
“AR coming back means no Bronny minutes anymore, but I’m glad he was able to play and show out his leap,” fan account BronnyMuse reacted.
AR coming back means no Bronny minutes anymore but I’m glad he was able to play and show out his leap
— BronnyMuse (@BronnyMuse06) April 30, 2026
“Austin Reaves’ return has cancelled Luke Kennard’s offense and Bronny James’ rotation spot,” The Athletic’s Law Murray observed.
Austin Reaves return has cancelled Luke Kennard’s offense and Bronny James rotation spot
— Law Murray 🪺 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 30, 2026
Lakers fan account PurpGold later made the case that LA’s “lackadaisical bench” was to blame for the frustrating home loss, prompting several fans to rally behind Bronny.
We lost this game because of our lackadaisical bench pic.twitter.com/aHdpAPkCSS
— 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅 🏆 (@PurpGoldLakers) April 30, 2026
“Bronny would have given us better minutes,” one user claimed.
Bronny would have given us better minutes.
— Patrick (@Notaboutm3) April 30, 2026
“Unironically, we would have gotten more from Bronny than any of them lol,” another remarked.
Unironically we would have gotten more from bronny than any of them lol
— 𝓜𝓸𝓷𝓽𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓖𝓲𝓫𝓫𝓼 (@SameTayl0819472) April 30, 2026
Meanwhile, The Guardian’s Claire de Lune speculated that Bronny not getting any run may have hindered LeBron’s motivation.
“Sounds silly, but I think JJ not playing Bronny is zapping LeBron of his midgame energy boost, and it’s not like his production could be much worse than some of their other bench options tonight,” de Lune wrote.
sounds silly, but i think jj not playing bronny is zapping lebron of his mid game energy boost. and it’s not like his production could be much worse than some of their other bench options tonight
— claire de lune (@ClaireMPLS) April 30, 2026
After Game 5, Redick conceded that the Lakers “just couldn’t make shots” and “missed some layups,” while the Rockets stepped up on both ends.
Though Redick’s decision on whether to play Bronny may not decide the series, perhaps the second-year coach could turn back to the youngster for an energy lift in Friday’s Game 6 clash in Houston.