Leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft, there was a ton of buzz surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers picking Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. That has now come to fruition as the Lakers drafted Bronny with the 55th overall pick in the second round.
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul notably only had Bronny work out for the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, and then during the draft he notably told teams not to draft his client or he would go play in Australia.
Paul did also warn the Lakers, however, that if they draft Bronny, it will have no impact on LeBron’s future with the team given the uncertainty of his contract situation. While LeBron originally said he wanted to play with his son in the NBA, the James family moved off that in recent weeks.
Despite that though, the Lakers still went ahead and drafted Bronny out of USC with the 55th overall pick in the second round anyway, which seemed to be the plan all along:
The Los Angeles Lakers are selecting Bronny James with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, sources say. LeBron and Bronny James to become the first ever father-son duo to be in the NBA at the same time. pic.twitter.com/CyewBHNswz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 27, 2024
This is an awesome moment for Bronny, LeBron and the entire James family as his basketball future was up in the air after suffering from cardiac arrest less than a year ago.
Bronny worked as hard as he could to make it back though and played limited minutes for USC during his freshman season, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 25 games.
It’s no secret that the 19-year-old still has a lot of developing to do and will need to work on his game to be able to play at the next level. He has some potential as a 3-and-D guard though and seems to have landed in the perfect spot.
By staying in L.A. to play with the Lakers, Bronny can learn from his dad and the rest of the veterans on the roster while likely getting minutes at the G League level with the South Bay Lakers during the 2024-25 season.
A lot of people will naturally write Bronny off and say he only got drafted because of LeBron, but he is a good kid that works hard and surely will be excited to prove those doubters wrong.
Isaiah Collier believes Bronny James will thrive in NBA
One person who believes Bronny James will have success at the NBA level is his former teammate at USC Isaiah Collier.
“The NBA is going to be great for him,” Collier said of Bronny James during the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago on May 12. “People haven’t seen as much as what we’ve seen as a team. He’s going to be a great player. Little that people know, he’s really good …”
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