Ahead of his record-setting 20th NBA All-Star appearance, LeBron James touched on his son’s future.
LeBron James hinted at retirement in a few years at NBA All-Star Weekend andmade it public he would love to play with his son, USC freshman Bronny James, before that happens. Broadcasters asked the elder James about Bronny James entering the 2024 NBA Draft and left the question open ended.
“It’s up to him. It’s up to the kid,” James told TNT’s Inside the NBA ahead of Sunday’s All-Star Game. “Obviously we gonna go through the whole process. He’s still in season now, has the Pac-12 tournament coming up. … We gonna weigh our options, and we gonna let the kid make the decision.”
Bronny James, a four-star combo guard rated as the 26th-best nationally, is still in the developmental stages of his career and does not project as a lottery selection in the 2024 NBA Draft should he choose the one-and-done route. He’s averaging 5.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a freshman at USC and hasn’t yet found his comfort zone offensively.
LeBron James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin last year that he’s “got to be on the floor with Bronny” before his career is over.
“Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him,” James said. “I don’t mean like [guarding one another all game]—because he’s a point guard and I’m a—at this point now I’m playing center or whatever the team needs from me. But I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer and future Hall of Famer said in Indianapolis at All-Star Weekend he has “a lot to think about” when the season is over.
“I don’t care how many more points I score, or what I can or cannot do on the floor,” James said. “The real question for me is, ‘Can I play without cheating this game?’ The day I can’t give the game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done. Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”
If Bronny James declares for the 2024 NBA Draft and is selected, much of that could be due to a franchise believing it has a chance to land LeBron James as well.
“His NBA upside, based solely on his own merit as a prospect, is much less clear,” says 247Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein said last year. “His NBA projection depends on the extent to which his father ties the end of his career to Bronny’s location. There is very little precedent for a 6-foot-3 combo-guard to be a first-round pick, much less a lottery pick, without being a dynamic playmaker.”
Bronny James is back in action next weekend at UCLA after scoring two points in an overtime loss to Colorado last time out.
