South Bay Lakers forward Drew Timme has been named the G League Player of the Week for the opening week of the season, covering games played from November 7 to November 16. Timme contributed significantly to South Bay’s undefeated 3-0 start, averaging 30 points, seven rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. He scored 34 points in the team’s season opener.
At age 25, Timme is seeking to establish himself in the NBA after a notable college career at Gonzaga University between 2019 and 2023. During his time there, he was awarded two West Coast Conference (WCC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Year honors in both 2022 and 2023 and received the WCC Tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 2023.
Timme was not selected in the 2023 NBA Draft but went on to play in the G League with several teams including the Wisconsin Herd, Stockton Kings, and Long Island Nets. In March of 2025, he signed with the Brooklyn Nets and completed that NBA season by averaging 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds over nine games.
After being waived by Brooklyn in October, Timme joined South Bay and has started strong in the current G League season. His performance could lead to a two-way contract with either the Lakers or another NBA team if he maintains this level of play.
LeBron James also spent time practicing with South Bay as part of his recovery from a sciatica issue while the Los Angeles Lakers were on a road trip. This marked his first practice sessions with South Bay.
“It was great. I appreciate the coaching staff and the players allowing me to, one, kind of change the practice detail a little bit. They usually go at 11. I’m an early bird. I was like, can we go at 10? I wanted to go out like 8, but little pull and tuck and tuck and pull. But it’s very humbling. I mean, to go out there, that’s the benefit of having a farm system, basically,” James said.
“The guys were going on that long road trip. I got cleared to play some five-on-five for the first time since, shit, hurting my MCL versus Minnesota. And that was the blessing. They was here preparing for their games and I got an opportunity to get a couple of runs in with them, a couple of practices in. So it’s a blessing.”
