It's no secret Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James would prefer to play alongside his eldest son Bronny James in the NBA. But after Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest last summer and underperformed during his freshman season at USC, there were some doubts Bronny would be capable of making a jump to the league quick enough to play with his father.
However, Bronny put on a great showing at the NBA Draft Combine last week, which began to quiet some of the criticisms levied against him and also kickstarted chatter that some team will draft him in next month's draft. While the on-court portion of the combine is typically the most anticipated aspect, both JJ Redick and LeBron said they were impressed by Bronny's answers to the media.
Bronny, who did not talk to the media at all during his freshman year at USC, said while at the combine in Chicago that not playing next to his dad wasn't a deal-breaker and that he looks up to players such as Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Davion Mitchell and thinks they can be apt comparisons to him in the NBA.
“He had some quotes where he talked about certain players in the NBA that he felt he could play like, and I thought it was neat because not every 19-year-old kid has that perspective,” Redick said. “Most of us, we think we're going to be All-Star, All-NBA from day one, and that's not necessarily how it works for everybody.”
LeBron said that he and Bronny had not talked about some of the stuff that Bronny spoke with the media about, but the elder James came away impressed.
“I wanted him to kind of figure it out on his own, where he see himself in the NBA or where he see what his comp looks like,” LeBron said. “To see him mention guys like Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, a few other guys… These are guys that come in, and for a team that's trying to win championships, a team that wants to win every night, these are the players that you have to have on your team because it doesn't always show up in the box scores, but it always shows up in the winning plays. For Bronny to have that perspective on where he stands today, that's great. And I think that's great for any team to have a 19-year-old kid, like you said, I know that wasn't my goal. My goal was like, listen, ‘I'm trying to make it to the All-Star Game in Year 1, I want to be All-Star, I want to be MVP, I want to be all of these things,' and a lot of us have those aspirations.
“But for Bronny just to have that mindset of like, listen, ‘At this point in my life and in my game, I know where I stand, but I know how I affect the game.' He's just a winning player, and I just love his mindset. It's just some of his answers and to a lot of the questions that was given to him, I was awe in of because we've never actually even talked about it. But he's living in it, living in the moment, and he's definitely carving out his own lane. He's definitely not his dad, and I'm not him. I wouldn't be able to handle the scrutiny and all the things that he got going on at his age and at his level with social media. I didn't have social media to deal with when I came in at 18. I did have a lot of scrutiny, I did have a lot of things that was put on my shoulders, but I didn't have every single day around-the-clock news coverage, sports shows, things are talking about this particular person every single day, or you go online or on social media and X and Instagram and everyone can comment every single day about whatever they want to say. I didn't have to deal with that. And to see him handle it with such class and [with] self-awareness and just staying even-keeled was just a remarkable thing. Super proud of him.”
Will Bronny James be drafted?
After a freshman season of college basketball in which he averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game (with shooting splits of 36.6% FG, 26.7% 3PT, and 67.6% FT), Bronny James announced he would be entering the transfer portal and declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft. Doing both kept options open as he explored the draft process, including the combine.
The combine may have been the absolute best thing for him, too. USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt reported that following Bronny's combine performance, five NBA front-office executives believe Bronny will be drafted next month. But there's no guarantee Bronny will be one of the 58 picks announced in New York.
While there are plenty of teams who would likely more seriously consider drafting Bronny if it was a guarantee LeBron James would follow close behind, reports have surfaced over the last week that LeBron will not simply sign with the team that drafts Bronny (although the Lakers reportedly have interest). Additionally, Bronny measured shorter than expected, which combined with his lackluster on-court play this past season, could keep him off of numerous teams' draft boards.
Bronny still has the opportunity to return to college for his sophomore season as well. He will have to decide which path he would like to take within the next week, as the NCAA requires players who declare for the draft to withdraw by May 29 in order to maintain their eligibility.
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