It was the dream that LeBron James first proposed a few years ago: the idea of playing in the NBA alongside one of his sons.
And now we are one step closer to reality.
Bronny James, the eldest son of the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and four-time champion, was selected Thursday by the Los Angeles Lakers, the team his father has played for since 2018. Bronny James was taken with the 55th overall pick, in the second round and with just three picks remaining in this year’s draft.
“Beyond blessed,” Bronny James wrote in an Instagram post.
Adding to the intrigue of the move, LeBron James can become a free agent next week, meaning he could choose to leave the Lakers and sign elsewhere.
“In NBA history, there’s never been a father and son who have shared an NBA basketball court and that feels like something that could be magical,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. “We know, and of course we have to respect, that LeBron has a decision about whether to step down … but if it turns out that he’s on our team next season, NBA history could be made. And NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform.”
The draft change doesn’t guarantee that father and son will play in a game together, nor does it even guarantee that Bronny James will be on the Lakers’ roster next season. But it certainly raises the possibility that it could happen in what would be an NBA first: a father-son duo on the league’s court simultaneously as players. There have been about 100 instances in NBA history of players joining the league after their fathers played, but those always occurred at least five years after the father’s career ended.
But LeBron James’ incredible longevity (he’ll match Vince Carter for longest NBA playing career next season, which will be his 22nd in the league) makes the father-son duo possible.
“With the 55th pick of the 2024 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select Bronny James from the University of Southern California,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said in announcing the pick, making the moment official for the 19-year-old, who was born just before the start of his father’s second NBA season.
Bronny James is likely to make his debut in a Lakers uniform on July 12 in Las Vegas, in the franchise’s summer league opener against the Houston Rockets.
Bronny James is a point guard who was listed as 6’4″ on Southern California’s roster, but at the draft combine he was listed at 6’4″. That would make him one of the shortest players in the NBA, but his athleticism and defensive ability helped him get this opportunity.
“Bronny is, first and foremost, a person of great character,” Pelinka said. “And, secondly, he is a young man who works incredibly hard. Those are the qualities we look for when recruiting players and adding them to our development team at the Lakers.”
There will be complaints of nepotism, complaints that the Lakers did this just because of who LeBron James is, but Pelinka insisted that the Lakers will have a plan for Bronny James’ development, that the organization sees his potential and that he has personally been impressed with the character Bronny James showed growing up.
Pelinka and the Lakers staff, including newly hired coach JJ Redick, called Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul before the pick was made and were able to speak with Bronny James moments before the selection was officially made.
“Coach Redick and I were able to welcome him into the Lakers family and let him know that this moment was happening primarily because of the work he’s put into the game and the character of the young man that he is,” Pelinka said. “That’s what I told him on the phone call.”
Bronny James played one year of college basketball at USC and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season. He played in 25 games and missed the start of the season after needing a procedure last year to correct what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defectwho was found after suffering cardiac arrest during a summer training session.
A panel of doctors Bronny James cleared to play in the NBA last month.
Nike, the footwear giant with whom LeBron James has had a business relationship throughout his NBA career, wasted no time in congratulating Bronny James. launching a new announcement — “The journey continues. Welcome to the big stage, Bronny,” the company wrote.
On the second day of the draft, 24 other players were selected before Bronny James, though none of them (not even close, really) received the attention that the 55th pick received, for obvious reasons.
The 55th pick rarely turns out to be a player who garners a lot of attention. The best 55th pick in NBA history would be current Miami Heat guard Patty Mills, selected in 2009 and someone who has scored 7,893 points in his 15-season career.
Other notable No. 55 picks include Marc Iavaroni, Mark Blount, Kenny Gattison and E’Twaun Moore. There has never been a No. 55 pick who was an NBA All-Star, an All-NBA player, an All-Rookie team player or an All-Defensive team selection.
Last season’s 55th pick, Isaiah Wong, scored exactly two points for Indiana as a rookie. If you add up all 55th picks in history, his NBA point total is 28,364 points, more than 12,000 fewer points than LeBron James has scored in his career.
“The biggest moments in sports happen with the Lakers,” Pelinka said. “That’s how we’re built and we’re excited to see how this story unfolds.”
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AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in El Segundo, California, contributed to this report.
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NBA AP: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA