If there was any doubt that LeBron James was going to continue with the Los Angeles Lakers next season, this Thursday, in the second round of the draft, could have been cleared. The Lakers have chosen Bronny James, his son, to be part of the roster. They will thus become the first father-son duo to play at the same time in the league and they will also do so on the same team, the last dream of a player who has broken all NBA records.
There have been around 100 fathers and sons who have played in the NBA, but there has always been at least five years between one’s retirement and the other’s debut. LeBron’s longevity — who will begin his 22nd season in the league in the fall at 39, tying Vince Carter’s record — is such that he has long been pitted against the sons of his early career rivals. He played against Jabari Smith and now Jabari Smith Jr. does; against Rick Brunson and Jalen Brunson; against Gary Payton and Gary Payton II, and so on up to nine father-sons.
What he wanted was to play with his own son, Bronny James, who debuted last year for the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans after recovering from a heart problem. Standing in the front row, LeBron celebrated his son’s first basket, a three-pointer.
There are differences among experts on whether Bronny really has the elite level required to enter the NBA, but for the Lakers it is an indirect way to please and retain their biggest star. After all, he was selected with the 55th pick in the NBA. draftwhen there were no players of undeniable talent left to succeed in the league. LeBron James can become a free agent next week, meaning he could choose to leave the Lakers and sign elsewhere, but it would be very surprising if he did so and lost the opportunity to play with his son.
The news of the selection of Bronny James comes a few days after the Lakers announced the hiring of JJ Redick as the new coach of the Los Angeles franchise. Redick, a 40-year-old former player, has been the driver of a podcast with LeBron himself. The King is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, has won the championship ring four times and has a collection of MVPs only surpassed by Michael Jordan. He has been the best player of the regular season four times, the best player of the finals four times (the four in which he was champion: 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2020), three times the best player of the All-Star game (in which he has played for 20 years, another record) and last year he was also the best player of the new seasonal tournament, the NBA Cup.
“With the 55th election in the draftof the 2024 NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers select Bronny James from the University of Southern California,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum when announcing the selection, making the moment official for the 19-year-old, who was born just before the start of his father’s second season in the NBA.
Bronny James is a 1.90 meter guard, a short player for the NBA, but with great athletic and defensive ability. He played one year of college basketball at the University of Southern California and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season, the Associated Press reports. He appeared in 25 games but missed the start of the season after undergoing surgery last year to correct what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defect, which was discovered after he suffered cardiac arrest during summer training. . A group of doctors cleared Bronny James to play in the NBA last month.
He draftIt is a system established to balance the competition in the long term in which the weakest teams have priority, although there is an element of chance to prevent teams from competing to be last.
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