A unique opportunity took place for the Los Angeles Lakers and the James family during day two of the National Basketball Association [NBA] Draft on June 27. LeBron James is a professional basketball player for the Lakers and is widely regarded as the greatest NBA player of all time. LeBron has two sons, his youngest is named Bryce and is 17 years old. However, the older brother named Bronny has been making headlines left and right.
Bronny has been selected by his father’s team with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft; making it the first time in the sport’s history a father-son duo will play together at the same time.
“I think it was a smart decision by the Lakers to draft him,” junior Taeson Schultz said. “If another team would’ve drafted him, they would’ve lost Lebron.”
LeBron made it known he wanted to play with his son before ultimately deciding to hang it up during the 2022 offseason. With that, any team that would end up taking Bronny had a good chance of getting his father as well.
A concern that rose while prospects were getting ready to take the next step was if Bronny James was actually prepared and ready for the big league, or if it was all for the media.
“I do think a lot of it was just for the media and the historical aspect,” senior Landon Hernandez said. “The Lakers probably could’ve picked up someone that could’ve helped their team more than I believe Bronny will.”
While the son of one-of-the-best-to-ever-do-it showed impressive athleticism at the NBA Combine with a 40.5 inch vertical and nailing 12 three-pointers in a row, his college statistics at the University of Southern California were underwhelming.
Standing at 6-foot-1.5-inches, Bronny is significantly shorter than the average height (6-foot-3.5-inches) of an NBA player at his position. His 4.8 points per game [ppg], 2.8 rebounds per game [rpg], and 2.1 assists per game [apg] would not put a player on a professional team’s radar.
“From what I’ve seen about his college stats, I don’t think he will be good,” Landon Hernandez said. “His stats in college were sub par, so I don’t see him making it.”
The first overall pick, Zaccharie Risacher, totaled over 10 ppg during his time playing professionally in France. Anton Watson, who was selected with the pick right before Bronny, was averaging 14.5 ppg and 7.1 rpg during the 2023-24 season with Gonzaga.
Putting it in perspective, Bronny was a small fish in a big pond when it came to the numerical side of things. What gave him so much attention was his father’s domination in the league.
“If LeBron wasn’t his dad, he wouldn’t even be considered in this draft class,” Schultz said. “He will get very little playing time if he does play.”
Even if Bronny’s credentials don’t show he’s worthy of playing at a competent level, a father and his son being teammates in a professional sport is incredibly rare. Seeing the longevity of LeBron James is exceptionally uncommon. One question beginning to rise in popularity is if sports will ever see anything like what everyone is seeing today again.
“I don’t think another father-son duo will play again just because Lebron is playing at a very old age,” sophomore Emery Hernandez said. “I also think there wouldn’t be another player that will be able to draft their son because everyone knows LeBron’s the one who drafted him.”
