When it comes to sports, basketball legend LeBron James has achieved it all. Now he is the first to stand on the NBA floor with his son – but they will not be a dream duo.
The father is 39, the son is 20 years old: LeBron (left) and Bronny James before a preparatory game for their Los Angeles Lakers.
Another record. This is what American basketball player LeBron James thought when he flew back to the United States with his teammates last August. The USA team just won the Olympic basketball tournament in Paris – dream team, gold medal, what else? On top of that, the 39-year-old James became the oldest American basketball player to ever compete in the Olympic Games in France; it was James’ fourth Summer Games.
An amazing athlete like him has to run out of dreams at some point. James is a three-time Olympic champion, four-time NBA champion, and has been selected to the All-Star team every season since 2005, a selection of the best players in the league. And since last year he has become the record scorer in the world’s best basketball league, having collected 48,474 points since his debut as an 18-year-old. So has James achieved everything in his career? Almost.
An important voice in the struggle for ethnic equality
When he joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, James said he had one last big dream. He has long been the embodiment of the American dream come true. He, who grew up in poverty in Akron, Ohio, worked tirelessly on his talent as a youth in the Rust Belt, becoming a billionaire, the best basketball player of his time, perhaps in history. And also an influential person from the court. Especially during the presidency of Donald Trump, he has been an important voice in the fight for racial equality and against police violence.
From one basketball fan to the next, I hope you enjoy @HGMediaDocuments by – Starting with 5 – which is ongoing now @Netflix.
And if you’re wondering which players I have in my starting five – look! pic.twitter.com/Vet3Zz68Fr
– Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 13, 2024
“I have a dream,” James said at the time. He really wants to play on the same NBA team with one of his sons. Now, six years later, his dream has come true. When the Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first game of the new season on Wednesday night, LeBron will be like Bronny James unless something unexpected happens. This makes him the first basketball player to play in a regular NBA game with a son.
Bronny, 20, is the brother of Bryce, 19, and Zhuri, 9, the other two children of LeBron James and his wife Savannah Brinson. Like his father more than 20 years ago, Bronny was already rich before he played his first NBA game. He is said to have around $10 million, also thanks to Nike advertising contracts.
LeBron James recognized his eldest son’s talent early on. In preparation for the new season, he said: “When I saw her play basketball at the age of five, I told Savannah: ‘She special. He will play in the NBA in the future.’ My wife thought I was crazy.” The parents later sent Bronny to a private school in California. There he played on the school team and later in the high school league, where he got better and better.
But then followed a setback that seriously jeopardized his career: In July 2023, Bronny unexpectedly collapsed during training. The hospital found out that he had a cardiac arrest due to a congenital heart defect. Before the collapse, Bronny was considered a contender for a top spot in the 2024 NBA Draft — even though he had yet to play a college game.
After the cardiac arrest, no one expected him to make his NBA debut this fall. But Bronny returned to the court in December and has played a decent season in college since then. Then he registered for the draft.
Many critics are critical of Bronny James’ commitment to the Lakers.
When the Lakers selected him late in the second round of the draft, many critics decided that Bronny was only signed by the Los Angeles franchise because his father, LeBron, used his influence. That’s not completely silly. It is certain that LeBron James will participate in the selection of the new coach of the Lakers, JJ Redick. It was considered a confidant of James; The two did a basketball podcast together before Redick took over the Lakers team in the summer.
Redick has repeatedly raved about James Jr. during the preseason, praising his game acumen and willingness to learn. In the press conference immediately after the draft, he contradicted the opinion that the shooting guard was preferred in the election: “We never gave anything to Bronny, we brought him because of his playing skills. He earned the commitment with hard work. Now he can be a good NBA player. “
What if Bronny is found wanting?
Such praise may be encouraging, but for Bronny it probably means one thing more than anything else: pressure. When he first appeared in the pre-season it was clear that he was still far from the top level of the NBA. When Bronny was on the court with his father for the first time against the Phoenix Suns, he only made two rebounds in thirteen minutes.
American TV channels don’t care. Since Bronny started playing in the Lakers team, they show every scene with him, no matter how small, as a “highlight”. He seems to be the new attraction of the league. A comment under the game summary on YouTube looks like a mockery of the newcomer. “No Bronny Highlights?” asked a user. In other words: There was no sign of Bronny, he did not contribute at all in the 107:102 victory of the Lakers against the Milwaukee Bucks.
LeBron James. Bronny James.
The father-son duo shared the court together for the first time! 👏 pic.twitter.com/93hC7k64gK
— NBA (@NBA) October 7, 2024
In five trial games for the Lakers, he was on the court for an average of twelve and a half minutes, scoring 1.6 points; his field throw rate was 20 percent lower.
Based on first impressions, it can be assumed that Bronny will initially only receive a small amount of playing time in everyday life in the NBA; Most of the time he had to sit on the bench, or not even if it would be more logical for his development if he added another time in college. But James senior must continue to wait for his dream to come true.
With this in mind, one question is more interesting: What will happen if the bosses of the Lakers club decide that Bronny James is too easy? Will roster planner Rob Pelinka dare to send him to the farm team of the G-League, the development league? And what is LeBron James’ reaction to this demotion?
Despite the beauty of LeBron James’ dream come true at first glance, the touching father-son story is very explosive.