Bronny James, son of LeBron James, is selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 55th pick in the NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, June 27, 2024. /CFP
The Los Angeles Lakers selected Bronny James, son of their superstar LeBron James, with the 55th pick in the NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, on Thursday,
LeBron, 39, and Bronny, 19, are likely to become the first father-son pair in NBA history in the 2024-25 season. Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in his rookie season for University of Southern California. It took him nearly five months to recover from a cardiac arrest episode before joining the team in game action.
The Lakers' decision of drafting Bronny understandably has a lot to do with LeBron James' future with the team. He has until Saturday to decide if he will exercise the $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 campaign. If he declines it, the purple and gold can still retain him with a three-year, $162 million deal at max.
The other member of the Lakers' star duo with LeBron James, Anthony Davis spoke highly of Bronny.
Bronny James (#6) and his father LeBron James pose for a photo together after the McDonalds High School All American Boys Game at the Toyota Center in Hostoun, Texas, March 28, 2023. /CFP
"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," Davis added. "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 drafted 23-year-old Dalton Knecht with the 17th pick on Wednesday. The 1.98-meter guard from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville is an established shooter in college and can be helpful in improving the team's spacing.