Bronny James Claps Back At Pistons Fan: “How Much Money You Make A Year?”

Bronny James didn’t feature in the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ 121-116 win over the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, but he still ended up making headlines. Bronny had some choice words for a Pistons fan during the game, as he appeared to get into a back-and-forth with one of them. “Can you run a mile?” Bronny said. “How much money you make a year?” It’s unclear what the Pistons fan said to spark such a reaction from Bronny, who isn’t known to lose his cool. The 22-year-old’s last notable interaction with a heckler involved him hilariously telling the individual their chain was fake . He has developed some thick skin over the years, but Lakers staffers had to restrain him here. Bronny, who is making $2.3 million in 2026-27, seemed to mock the fan’s weight with the “running a mile” comment and then delivered the typical athlete taunt about money. According to the video, the fan was later ejected from the game. This was the second time in three games that a fan was ejected from a Lakers game. During Wednesday’s 116-103 win over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center, a fan was tossed for aggressively throwing the ball at official Chelisa Painter . Lakers superstar Luka Doncic confronted the fan for the act, and security seemingly ushered him out not long after. Now, Doncic didn’t play against the Pistons here due to lower back tightness, and you wondered if Bronny might get some game time as a result, but he didn’t. He watched from the bench as the Lakers won 121-116 to improve to 9-2. This was the Lakers’ 11th game of the season, and Bronny has only played in five of them. That’s not a good sign. Bronny is averaging just 0.8 points and 0.2 blocks per game in 2026-27, and it’s quite clear that Lakers head coach JJ Redick does not trust him at the moment. He made some progress in his sophomore campaign, but is out of the rotation now. The Lakers even assigned Bronny and rookie Cameron Carr to their G League affiliate , the Coachella Valley Lakers, on Friday, ahead of their season opener against the Salt Lake City Stars. They helped the team get off to a winning start, taking down the Stars 104-98. Bronny put up 22 points (8-18 FG), five rebounds, seven assists, and one steal in the win. It was a fine performance, and his critics would argue the G League is where he belongs, not the NBA. Bronny has faced nepotism allegations throughout his short NBA career. The Lakers selected him with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and many believe they picked him only to please his father, LeBron James . LeBron then left for the Philadelphia 76ers in the summer, leading to speculation about Bronny’s future. The Lakers, though, decided to keep Bronny, even waiving Dalton Knecht instead on Oct. 19 to bring their roster down from 16 guaranteed contracts to 15. It was a show of faith, but he won’t be around for too long at this rate. The Lakers take on the Atlanta Hawks next at State Farm Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. ET. It will be interesting to see whether Bronny features against the Hawks or if he’ll get sent down to the G League again.