Getty LeBron James wants to team up with his son Bronny James.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is a proud father, and he has not given up on the idea of teaming up with his oldest son Bronny James in the NBA. LeBron has emphasized his desire to let his son still be in high school but admitted there are a lot of positives that NBA talent evaluators can already see in Bronny.
“If you are evaluating the kid and, in my case, if I’m a GM or president or owner of a team, first of all, you’ve got to look at the kid’s upbringing and the kid’s family and also him personally,” LeBron explained during his December 7 press conference. “I think everyone has their own trials and tribulations and things of that nature. I actually like most kids to be single-parent kids. I feel like it just gives them an extra grit. It’s something about only single-parent kids when it comes to sports, they just have a certain like grit about them, but that doesn’t take away from guys with two parents, too, obviously and girls with two parents.
“…In high school ball, you see a lot of kids who really just care about like getting numbers. Like how can they get numbers and average 30 or 40 and whatever all the cases may be, but I like when I’m watching these games, I like to see not only the talent but is the kid playing the right way throughout the whole game, no matter what’s going on. That’s just how I was taught when I was a kid. How I was brought up, and it always leaded to success. I’ve won at every level since I picked up a basketball, and it’s because my teachers and my guidance always taught me how to play the game the right way, no matter what’s going on, and it was always about team and not I.”
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LeBron on Bronny: ‘He Has a Great Chance of Being a Pro’
The Lakers legend admitted that Bronny has a “great chance of being a pro.” Bronny is a four-star recruit in the class of 2023, meaning his first chance to enter the NBA draft under the current rules is 2024. According to 247Sports, Bronny is already generating interest from a number of top college programs including Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina.
“So, Brony has always, for some odd reason, just always played the game the right way, and it’s just always a beautiful thing to see,” James added. “Like, having kids at that age a lot of kids can be selfish and even translate all the way to you get to the pros, and to see him just playing the game the right way where it doesn’t really matter about him.
“He never gets too high, never gets too low. He’s kind of just like even-keeled type of kid, if he stays on the path that he’s on, he has a great chance of being a pro and playing at a high level. But like I said, we’ll cross that road when you get here.”
Could Bronny & LeBron Team up on the Lakers?
LeBron once again did not back down on his desire to team up with Bronny once he is eligible to play in the NBA. When asked about potentially teaming up with his son, LeBron answered that he “absolutely” wants that to happen but noted that it is not something they talk about together.
“Well, I mean, absolutely, absolutely and my son is putting in the work, and we don’t really talk [about it], we never talk about it, but his dream is to play in the NBA,” LeBron responded when asked about wanting to play with Bronny. “That’s what he hopes, to be in the NBA and play it at a high level, and he has my my support and my blueprint.
“So, obviously with health and a little bit of luck, that would be the ultimate thing for me to be on the same court as my son in this beautiful game, but it’s a long time, a long time that happens in between here and there. So, we just take every day and try to maximize each and every day as its own.”
Could LeBron team up with Bronny on the Lakers? This is where the idea gets a bit complicated as LeBron’s current deal runs through the 2022-23 season. LeBron would need to at least play an additional two seasons beyond his current contract with the Lakers, and there is also the reality that Bronny will have no control over where he is (potentially) drafted, if he does emerge as an NBA prospect. Given LeBron stated this offseason that he wants to “finish my career with the Lakers,” we can bet the superstar will do everything in his power to try to get Bronny to Los Angeles.