The Lakers selected Bronny in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft with the 55th overall selection on Thursday night.
‘In the history of the NBA, there’s never been a father and a son that have shared an NBA basketball court and that feels like something that could be magical,’ Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said afterwards.
Interestingly, LeBron’s future with the Lakers is somewhat clouded, given that he can opt out of the final year and $51 million of his deal this week to become a free agent.
However, the Lakers can offer the four-time MVP a three-year maximum deal worth $161 million, and with his son on board, that might be too much for LeBron to turn down.
‘We know, and have to respect of course, that LeBron has a decision on his opt-out,’ Pelinka said. ‘But if it worked out that he was on our team next season, NBA history could be made. And NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform.’
The pick comes after weeks of speculation about where Bronny would be selected in the NBA Draft – with a range being set from the first round to going undrafted altogether.
But now, Bronny – who played last season with USC – will be staying with a basketball team in Los Angeles. Bronny’s single season of college basketball turned out to be a major letdown after the McDonald’s All-American suffered cardiac arrest while practicing in July of 2023. He was cleared to return to the court, but averaged only 19.4 minutes over 25 games for the Trojans, while scoring just 4.8 points per outing.
There was much debate in the run-up to this years draft about whether or not Bronny was ready to take on the NBA.
But the LA Lakers decided that they’d seen enough and selected the 19-year-old anyway despite his limited experience and stats from college.
The Los Angeles Lakers opted against using their first-round pick to draft LeBron’s eldest son, who was snubbed from the first round entirely on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, the 19-year-old was spotted stepping out of a car in New York, wearing pink sneakers a matching pullover on his shoulders.
The first round of the draft was a glitzy ceremony at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where Zaccharie Risacher became the second Frenchman in as many years to be drafted first.
This is the first time in history that the NBA draft is a two-day event. The ceremony on Thursday will be a more low-key affair, held in New York City’s Seaport district.
Bronny will now hope to be one of the few sons to have played with their fathers in professional sports.
Examples of some others include Ken Griffey Jr. playing baseball with his father Ken Griffey Sr. on the Seattle Mariners in 1990, while Mark and Marty Howe played alongside their legendary father Gordie with the Hartford Whalers in the late 1970s and 1980.
While he is the son of a future Hall of Famer, Bronny’s resume hasn’t drawn many comparisons to his famous father’s.
For starters, his father skipped the NCAA level in 2003 because the NBA had yet to implement its controversial one-and-done rule, requiring prospects to be one year removed from their high school class’s graduation before being draft eligible.
At the time, LeBron was already perceived as a generational talent, capable of competing against the NBA’s best long before he was even eligible to vote.
But Bronny was never pegged to be the ‘Next LeBron,’ nor is he some watered-down version of the Los Angeles Lakers superstar. Instead, the combo guard is very much his own player.
Bronny has always been a highly visible part of LeBron’s orbit alongside mother Savannah – LeBron’s high school sweetheart from Akron – as well as younger siblings Bryce and Zhuri.
But it wasn’t until 2019, when he enrolled at Sierra Canyon alongside the son of his father’s former teammate, Dwyane Wade, that Bronny began drawing attention for his own play.
Since then, Bronny has filled out to 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, a far cry from his 6-foot-9 father.
As recently as 2023 – before his cardiac arrest – Bronny was seen by many as a first-round talent.
‘As most of his peers have flatlined the past 12 to 18 months, James has grown, filled out his frame, found another gear with his explosiveness and become an absolute terror off the ball defensively thanks to his outstanding intensity and feel for the game,’ NBA Draft guru Jonathan Givony wrote for ESPN in March of 2023.
‘He still has plenty of room to improve his ballhandling and pull-up jumper to become a more prolific and efficient shot creator, but he has already caught the eyes of NBA decision-makers with the way he contributes to winning and likely will continue to grow and fill out his game.’
Bronny’s production was deemed good enough to qualify for the 2023 McDonald’s All-American Game alongside two other NBA scions: Andrej Stojakovic, the son of Peja, and D.J Wagner, the son of LeBron’s former teammate, Dajuan.
‘His vert has improved as much as any kid in the class,’ McDonald’s voting committee member Brandon Clay told USA Today’s Josh Peter.
‘Every time I’ve seen him play live, he’s been really good, man,’ Clay continued. ‘He’s played great competition. He always looks like he belongs at the table. He doesn’t look out of place.’
These days, scouting agencies had Bronny ranked anywhere from 34 (247 Sports) to 28 (ESPN) before he committed to USC, which did little to help his draft status.
‘Bronny James is an undersized combo guard, but makes up for the lack of height with a strong frame, great athleticism and quickness,’ read a Draft Digest scouting report after Bronny’s single college season.
‘He boasts quick, powerful vertical pop and moves well on both ends. Given his age and genetics, it’s worth monitoring James’ height moving forward as it wouldn’t be surprising to see him grow a few inches.’