LeBron James and his son Bronny James will become the first father-son duo in history to play for the same NBA team. It’s a dream LeBron James first floated a few years ago, the idea of playing in the NBA with one of his sons.
Now one step closer to reality.
Bronny James, the eldest son of the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and four-time champion, was drafted Thursday by the Los Angeles Lakers, the team his father has played for since 2018. James with the 55th overall pick, deep in the second round, leaving just three picks left in this year’s draft.
As the second round progressed, ESPN reported that Rich Paul, representing father and son, was calling teams and telling them not to draft Bronny. “Rich Paul is gathering the team [telling them] Don’t draft Bronny James,” former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers said on ESPN’s live broadcast of the draft. “If you take him, he’ll go to Australia.”
Now, he’s heading to Los Angeles.
“So lucky,” Bronny James posted on Instagram.
Even more intriguing: LeBron James becomes a free agent next week, which means he has the option to leave the Lakers and sign elsewhere.
“In NBA history, there has never been a father and son sharing an NBA basketball court. It feels like a magical thing,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. “We know and certainly have to respect LeBron’s decision to opt out…but if he joins our team next season, NBA history could be made. NBA history should be made on a Lakers jersey.
The draft doesn’t guarantee that father and son will actually play a game together, or even that Bronny James will be on the Lakers’ roster next season. But it certainly raises the possibility that this will be the first time in the NBA that a father and son will be on the court together as players in the league. There are about 100 examples in NBA history of players joining the league after their fathers played, but these all came at least five years after their fathers’ careers ended.
“I don’t want to hear these accusations, people talking about nepotism,” Adrian Wojnarowski said on ESPN. “The NBA is full of nepotism. The ownership hierarchy, the front office, the coaches. I don’t want to hear this out of the blue because Bronny James’ father played for the Lakers. It’s rampant in the league.
But LeBron James’ incredible longevity — he will tie Vince Carter for the longest career by an NBA player next season, which will be his 22nd season in the league — makes this pair A father-son duo is possible.
“The Los Angeles Lakers have selected Bronny James from the University of Southern California with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft,” NBA Vice President Mark Tatum said in announcing the selection. This moment for a 19-year-old player.
Probably the best stat line LeBron has ever seen is that this kid was just drafted into the NBA and LeBron is still averaging the same points, assists, and rebounds per game as he was when this photo was taken 17 years ago 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sCOdINSiDE
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) June 27, 2024
Bronny James is a guard who was listed at 6-foot-4 on USC’s roster but was listed at 6-foot-1 at the draft combine. That would make him one of the shortest players in the NBA, but his athleticism and defensive ability help him get this opportunity.
“Brownie is, first and foremost, a man of high character,” Pelinka said. “Secondly, he’s a young man who works very hard. Those are the qualities we look for when we draft players and join the Lakers’ development team.
He played college basketball for one year at the University of Southern California and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season. He played in 25 games and missed the start of last year’s season after needing surgery to repair what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defect that was discovered after he suffered a cardiac arrest during summer training.
Last month, a team of doctors cleared Bronny James to play in the NBA.
There were 24 other players drafted ahead of Bronny James on the second day of the draft, although none of them — not even remotely close, actually — received the attention of the No. 55 pick, for obvious reasons.
It’s rare that the 55th overall pick becomes a player that attracts a lot of attention. The best 55th pick in NBA history was Miami Heat guard Patty Mills, selected in 2009.
Some other notable No. 55 picks include Marc Iavaroni, Mark Blount, Kenny Gattison and E’Twaun Moore . No pick No. 55 has ever been selected to the NBA All-Star, All-NBA, All-Rookie or All-Defensive teams.
Isaiah Wong, the 55th overall pick last season, scored two points for Indiana as a rookie. Adding up all No. 55 picks in history, their NBA career points total is 28,364 points – more than 12,000 points less than LeBron James’s career points.
Still, there were plenty of starters and even future Hall of Famers who were discovered in the second round. Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the 41st overall pick in 2014. Selected. Ginobili will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022.
