Bronny James slapped with first technical foul: LeBron James’ son whistled for trash talk as USC loses to UCLA

USC freshman Bronny James received the first technical foul of his career Saturday in a crosstown rivalry showdown against UCLA. The son of NBA superstar LeBron James blocked Dylan Andrews’ shot when he was driving to the basket with 12:06 left in the first half and proceeded to yell “give me that (stuff)” at the Bruins guard.

For that, James was given a technical and went to the bench. James finished with two points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of action during a 65-50 loss to UCLA at the Galen Center. 

The Trojans have lost their last five games and now sit alone in last place in the Pac-12 standings with a 2-7 conference record. USC started the season 5-2 but has since lost four of its last 15 games dating back to a loss against Gonzaga on Dec. 2. 

The reason James was on a minutes restriction for the first month of the season stemmed from a scary health scare over the summer. The younger James went into cardiac arrest during a preseason workout in late July and missed the first eight games of the season before returning against Long Beach State on Dec. 10.

James had his minutes restriction lifted earlier this month when he made the first start of his college career against Colorado. James logged 25 minutes of action against the Buffaloes and had a season-high 30 minutes days later when his USC team faced Arizona on the road. In that game against the Wildcats, James scored 11 points and added six assists and five rebounds.

The best stretch of James’ young career came in the second and third conference games of the season. James scored 15 points in a loss to Oregon State and followed it up by scoring 10 points with three assists days later in a win over Cal. 

USC starts the second half of Pac-12 conference play at home against Oregon on Feb. 1.