Getty LeBron James and his son LeBron "Bronny" James Jr.
LeBron James Jr., better known as Bronny, is the eldest child of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. Like his famous father, 18-year-old Bronny James is a talented basketball player and he currently plays for Sierra Canyon High School.
Bronny James and his two younger siblings were all born in Ohio while James was playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Here’s what you need to know about LeBron James’ son Bronny:
1. Bronny James Was Born in 2004 to LeBron James & Savannah Brinson James When They Were 19 & 18 Years Old Respectively
Bronny James was born on October 6, 2004, to James and Savannah Brinson. At the time, James was 19 years old and the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year after his debut season with the Cleveland Cavaliers while Brinson, James’ then-girlfriend, was 18 years old. The couple married in 2013 when Bronny James was 8 years old.
James opened up about the birth of his first son and becoming a father in a tribute posted to Instagram in partnership with Beats. “I always knew I could be a great ball player,” he shared in the video. “Then I had you. And I had no idea how I was going to be as a father. I’ll be honest, I was scared. But I kept trying. And as you grew, so did I. Patience, commitment, joy. Things I learned from basketball. But really, I understood from you.”
He captioned the post, “I am who I am because of YOU! Thank you son LOVE YOU YOUNG KING.”
Bronny James’ mother, who goes by Savannah James since getting married, has shared that her pregnancy at 18 was unplanned. She told Harper’s Bazaar back in 2010 that she was terrified to learn that she was pregnant in her senior year of high school but James reassured her by saying, “It’s not going to slow me down, and it’s not going to slow you down,” she recounted.
2. Bronny James Is Following in His Father LeBron James’ Footsteps & Is Pursuing a Professional Basketball Career
OH YEAH BRONNY‼️ @tiphoops
Bronny James is following in his famous father’s footsteps, but he’s made it clear that pursuing basketball was his choice. “My dad is cool enough to let me take whatever path I want if I wanted to not pursue basketball,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2022, “But I think basketball is going to be my thing, for sure.”
While the younger James said he hopes to play in the NBA one day, if it doesn’t work out he said he’s “cool” with it. As he’s in his final year of high school, where he’s had a lot of success on the court, there’s been a lot of anticipation about Bronny James’ next move.
At 6’3″ and weighing 180 lbs, according to his ESPN profile, Bronny James is currently playing as a combo guard for Sierra Canyon High School. He’s currently ranked No. 28 in ESPN’s 100 top high school players and No. 34 in 247Sports’ national rankings. On January 24, 2023, Bronny James was one of 24 boys picked to play in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Games.
There are several options for the high school senior, who could join a college team, play professionally overseas, train for a year before declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft, and more. In August 2022, Savannah James told Sports Illustrated that she thought her son was leaning toward pursuing a collegiate career and James added, “I think it would be really cool for him to start with collegiate basketball, just to start his legacy there.”
As of March 6, 2023, Bronny James has yet to decide on which college he’ll be attending, with several potential schools showing interest: Oregon, USC, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio State and Memphis, according to ESPN.
3. LeBron James Said He Wants to Play in the NBA With His Son Bronny James Before His Retirement
Although James acknowledged that it might be nice for his son to “start his legacy” in college basketball, he threw a curveball in the world of pro basketball when he shared that he wanted to finish his NBA career playing with his son, wherever that ends up being.
James first dropped that news in a February 2022 interview with The Athletic. “My last year will be played with my son,” he shared. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be.” The bombshell caused a flurry of speculation about where the two might play together and whether Bronny James will declare for the 2024 NBA Draft, the earliest he would be eligible to do so.
A few months later, in August 2022, James avoided discussing any specifics about his goal of playing with his firstborn. He said he wasn’t really making concrete plans for the future but simply wanted to put his goal out into the universe. “I’ve always set out goals in my career, talked to the basketball gods, and they’ve listened to all of them,” he shared with Sports Illustrated. “Hopefully they can listen to this last one, too.”
James, 38, shared with the publication that he feels confident he could play at the top level for a while longer and isn’t putting any timeline on his goal. In January 2023, he shared with ESPN that he’d even love to play against his son. “Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him,” James revealed. “I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”
4. Bronny James Is Becoming a Public Figure Like His Father LeBron James
Bronny James is truly on his way to becoming a well-known public figure like his father, with sponsorships and magazine covers under his belt. The 18-year-old already boasts 7 million followers on Instagram despite having less than 30 posts since joining the social media platform in 2019. In fact, he racked up a million followers in his first 48 hours on the site.
The younger James also graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in July 2021 when he was just 16, appearing as a member of the popular e-sports team FaZe Clan alongside other members. He made the cover again in August 2022, this time posing with his famous father and his younger brother, Bryce Maximus, with the tagline “Chosen Sons.”
To add to his growing list of achievements, the teenager also has a deal with Nike, which he signed soon after turning 18 in October 2022. James, who’s been a Nike athlete since starting his pro career, congratulated his son on his endorsement deal, writing on Instagram, “The Legacy Continues On!! Congrats Young King.”
Bronny James also appeared in the docuseries “Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers,” which was produced by James and Maverick Carter and released on Amazon Prime in 2021. The series follows the ups and downs of one of the highest-profile high school basketball teams of all time as they faced immense pressure and media scrutiny, according to its description on IMDB.
5. Bronny James Has Said He Wants to Differentiate Himself From His Famous Father
Bronny James, who is quite reserved in public, has shared his perspective on growing up with one of the greatest basketball players of all time as his father and sharing his name. He said he didn’t want to be known as “Junior” even from a young age, and Bronny was a nickname that stuck with him. “I also want to build my own narrative and take my own path and not have the same LeBron LeBron path,” he told Sports Illustrated.
In fact, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way as James himself shared that he regrets naming his firstborn after himself. “I still regret giving [Bronny] my name,” James said in 2018, because of the unfair expectations that might be placed on him. “When I was younger, obviously, I didn’t have a dad. My whole thing was, whenever I have a kid, not only is he gonna be a junior, but I’m gonna do everything that this man didn’t do.”
Bronny James’ mother also addressed the potential of her son following in James’ footsteps and said the most important thing is his happiness. She told Sports Illustrated that James would be over the moon to play with his son on an NBA court but that at the end of the day, she just wants him to pursue his dreams. “If you are happy playing in gaming competitions in Long Beach, then that’s what I want you to do,” she said. “If you’re happy being a franchise player for an NBA team, that’s what I want you to do.”
Outside of basketball, Bronny James’ interests include “gaming and snowboarding and filming pranks and dance moves,” according to his Sports Illustrated profile. The FaZe Clan member is a fan of Fortnite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and boasts over 600,000 followers on his Twitch account.