The Philadelphia 76ers brought LeBron James to town as a free agent signing this offseason.
Then when it may have been a choice to trade for his son Bronny, they didn’t do that. And now there’s a quote going around about LeBron’s younger son, Bryce, who could eventually be drafted into the NBA.
The quote emerged on a satire social media account on Thursday, attributing LeBron as saying, “I want to run this duo thing back one more time… That’s the final goal.”
One problem: LeBron didn’t say that.
What Did LeBron Say?
James hasn’t made a recent comment about playing with his son Bryce in the NBA. The account that posted the quote has “parody” in its bio. It’s not meant to be real.
The whole point is to get engagement, and you can bet some folks on X (formerly Twitter) will gladly lend their opinion to a matter that isn’t even real.
It’s understandable why it’ll grab attention. LeBron already was with the Lakers when they drafted his son Bronny in the second round. That allowed father and son to be on the same team for two years.
It wouldn’t be outlandish to wonder if James has at least thought about the idea of if he could stick around long enough to play with Bryce, too.
But LeBron has also been good about his public comments about his sons through the years. He knows the amount of scrutiny and pressure they’re under simply by being his kids. He wouldn’t add such expectations to the mix for Bryce.
Bryce James NBA Draft Outlook
The other issue here, to be frank, is that Bryce doesn’t currently look anything like an NBA Draft prospect.
Bryce is a bit bigger than Bronny, but he came out of high school with less basketball skill.
His first year at Arizona was a redshirt — he didn’t play to maintain eligibility. This season, Bryce actually started all three of the Wildcats’ exhibition games but then played limited minutes and had very little impact.
Bryce doesn’t seem to have the shooting touch or the playmaking instincts that could make him an impact offensive player, and he’s not super big or lanky to stand out on the defensive end. At times in high school, it seemed like his coordination and footwork were just a bit lacking.
There’s still time, and Bryce obviously has great genes and great resources.
But given LeBron’s age, Bryce likely would’ve had to make it to the NBA by now, or at least after this year. And there’s just almost no way that will happen.
76ers Drafting Bryce James Quote By LeBron Isn’t What It Seems