Last year, LeBron James revealed his wish to play alongside his son, Bronny James. That wish is going to be fulfilled after the Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James with the 55th pick in the second round of the draft.
“Beyond blessed,” Bronny James wrote in an Instagram post. This will be the first time when a father-son duo will play in the NBA at the same time, let alone in the same team.
“In the history of the NBA, there’s never been a father and a son that have shared an NBA basketball court and that feels like something that could be magical,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said. “We know, and have to respect of course, that LeBron has a decision on his opt-out … but if it worked out that he was on our team next season, NBA history could be made. And NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform.”
Bronny, 19, averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game in his lone season at USC. But he was sidelined for five months after suffering a cardiac arrest. Pelinka revealed that James Jr is known to work hard on his game.
“Bronny is, first and foremost, a person of high character,” Pelinka said. “And second, he is a young man that works incredibly hard. Those are the qualities we look for in drafting players and adding to our developmental corps at the Lakers.”
Meanwhile, the Lakers also want to retain LeBron James for his 22nd NBA season. Lakers’ big man Anthony Davis also showered praise on Bronny James and said that the youngster has a solid defense and can also be the team’s play-maker.
“He’s very good defensively,” Davis told ESPN. “He can read the floor very well. I think he’s a really good playmaker. I saw him work out a couple times besides the [Klutch Sports] pro day and working with a big — his reads, reading the defense, making the right passes — that was really impressive to me. I think he’s going to be fine, man. Obviously, it’s a lot of pressure on him with his dad being who he is.
“But one thing about Bronny, from what I’ve seen and what I heard, he wants to create his own path and he doesn’t want to be — even though he’s LeBron James’ son, he don’t want be seen as that. And I think having that mindset and trying to create his own path is going to work out for him. … Who knows, he might come in and be ready to play for us.”
The Lakers will begin the NBA Summer League against the Houston Rockets on July 12 in Las Vegas.
