Bronny James, the son of NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James, says there is 鈥渁n amplified amount of pressure鈥� playing alongside his father with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers selected the younger James with the 55th pick of the 2024 NBA Draft last week, which means that he and the four-time NBA champion could become the first father-son duo to play in the league at the same time.
鈥淚鈥檝e already seen it, media and on the internet and stuff talking about [how] I might not deserve an opportunity, but I鈥檝e been dealing with stuff like this for my whole life, so it鈥檚 nothing different,鈥� James told reporters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more amplified for sure, but I can get through it.鈥�
During his lone season at the University of Southern California, the 19-year-old played 25 games and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
He was hospitalized after suffering a cardiac arrest during practice at USC last year, causing him to miss the first eight games of the season as he recovered from a procedure to treat a congenital heart defect.
Later this month, James will make his Summer League debut with the Lakers but said he hasn鈥檛 spoken too much to his father about playing together in the NBA.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 gone too deep into that stuff yet because we haven鈥檛 even started Summer League,鈥� said James. 鈥淏ut stuff that he鈥檚 been telling me my whole life 鈥� just having that work ethic and coming in and getting your work in and listening to your coaches and being coachable. Stuff like that he鈥檚 driven into my head my whole life.鈥�
New Lakers head coach JJ Redick, meanwhile, stressed that he and general manager Rob Pelinka 鈥渄id not give Bronny anything.鈥�
He added: 鈥淏ronny has earned this through hard work and, for us prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as case study one because his base level of feel, athleticism, point of attack defender, shooting, passing 鈥� there鈥檚 a lot to like about his game.
鈥淎s we build out our player development program holistically, he鈥檚 going to have a great opportunity to become an excellent NBA player.鈥�
LeBron James has previously spoken about his desire to play alongside Bronny in the NBA, telling The Athletic in 2022 that his final year in the league will be alongside his son.
According to multiple reports, the 39-year-old has not opted into a $51.4 million contract with the Lakers for the coming season but is expected to sign a new deal with the team.
