LeBron James told reporters on Saturday that playing with his son, Bronny James, on the Los Angeles Lakers will be a “dream come true.” The elder James is currently in Las Vegas with Team USA for a training camp ahead of the Paris Olympics, which get underway later this month.
“Obviously it’s a dream come true. For me, to see my son be able to be in the NBA alone, it’s always been a dream of his. For us to be there side by side, words are lost, let’s be honest. The kid has worked so hard to get back to this point. Just so much has happened over the last year with him. To have this happen less than a year from his incident. To be with our friends and our family when they announced his name is something that was super surreal. Our family still doesn’t have enough words to explain the feeling that we had.
“Such a great kid and looking forward to see his progression and him continue to get better and better. As he continues to grow as a young man, he’s 19 years old, he has so much room for improvement. I’m looking forward to helping him improve, I know the coaching staff is helping him improve and everybody on the team. So it will be fun.”
As expected, the Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft last month, making the James’ the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time. Per Adrian Wojnarowski, Bronny is expected to spend much of the season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, but the two will share the court together in the NBA at some point, likely early in the campaign.
In August of last year, Bronny suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during a workout on USC’s campus as the result of a congenital heart defect. He was eventually cleared to return to play and made his collegiate debut in December. Over 25 games with the Trojans, he averaged 19.3 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Though he generally struggled last season, he was a top-20 recruit as a high school senior and a projected first-round pick prior to his medical emergency. He maintains real potential as a professional prospect, but has a long way to go before he becomes a regular rotation player in the NBA.