It’s safe to say being the son of NBA legend and future first-ballot Hall of Famer LeBron James is a lot to live up to.
And that pressure only gets heightened when we add the fact that Bronny James was drafted to LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers to form the first father-son duo in NBA history.
Yet despite all that and the presumed scrutiny that’s expected to come the younger James’ way, his dad doesn’t seem to be too worried about it.
“I don’t know if people really understand Bronny,” LeBron said in an interview with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “He doesn’t care.”
Bronny was selected by the Lakers 55th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft after averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists through 25 games during his lone season at the University of Southern California. In fairness, his subdued numbers came after he missed five months following a cardiac arrest — he was projected as a top-10 draft pick prior to the incident.
Being the centre of attention, whilst having to face critics, is something LeBron knows his 19-year-old is used to, and something he’ll be ready for.
“He doesn’t give a (expletive),” LeBron said. “He doesn’t even listen to that stuff … He’s like the complete opposite of (me) … (I’ll) say something (to address the critics). Bro does not care.”
The four-time champion and NBA’s all-time leading scorer took it a step further and said Bronny’s early success is proof that he’s ready for this new challenge.
“Just imagine if you were a kid, you were born into a situation where your dad was super famous, super wealthy and you still had the drive to want to be able to accomplish things for yourself,” LeBron continued. “I personally don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that if the roles were reversed.
” … Bronny has all the choices in the world. If (he) wants to stop right now or never played basketball or just wanted to be a gamer or wanted to be a chef or wanted to be nothing to whatever, he could have done that. … People don’t understand how hard that is and the commitment for him to be coming out of heart surgery less than a year ago, for him to be able to be in the NBA, the kid, he’s special.”
Bronny already made his debut in purple and gold, albeit for Summer League action, as he finished with four points, two assists and two steals through 22 minutes of action in a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
He then missed Sunday’s game to manage swelling in his knee.
The younger James will have plenty of potential opportunities to team up with his dad this upcoming season and beyond as the pair both inked deals with the Lakers this week.
Bronny signed his rookie contract, a four-year, $7.9 million guaranteed deal, just days after LeBron re-upped with Los Angeles for two years at $104 million.