NBA draft: Lakers select Bronny James, LeBron James’ son, in 2nd round

EL SEGUNDO, California — More than two years ago, Lakers star LeBron James publicly expressed his desire to play on the same NBA team as his oldest son, Bronny James.

Now, he’ll have the opportunity to achieve the feat of becoming the first father-son duo in the NBA – if he chooses to return to the Lakers this offseason.

The Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 pick in the NBA’s draft second round on Thursday.

Bronny, 19, averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game in his lone season at USC, which started with him collapsing from a cardiac arrest during a workout last July and ensuing surgery before making his return to the court and college debut in a Dec. 10 loss to Long Beach State.

But despite the up-and-down college season, Bronny is a Laker – an outcome that felt inevitable when he declared for the draft in April and kept his name in the prospect pool last month.

LeBron, who will turn 40 in December, famously told The Athletic in February 2022 during an All-Star Weekend in Cleveland: “My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year.”

He’s since walked back the stance, telling ESPN in January 2023: “I need to be on the floor with my boy, I got to be on the floor with Bronny. Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him. But I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”

LeBron said after the Lakers’ 2023-24 season-ending playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets on April 29 that he hadn’t “given it much thought lately, adding: “Obviously I’ve thought about it in the past but at the end of the day, the kid has to do what he wants to do.”

LeBron and Bronny’s agent, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul, told ESPN last week that LeBron, who could become a free agent if he opts out of his $51.4 million player option with the Lakers for the 2024-25 season, is “off this idea of having to play with Bronny. If he does, he does. But if he doesn’t, he doesn’t.”

Despite this, former Golden State Warriors general manager and ESPN NBA analyst Bob Myers said on Thursday’s broadcast that “Rich Paul is calling teams, ‘don’t take Bronny James. Don’t take him. If you take him, he’s going to Australia. He has a plan and he has a place.”

Bronny only went through pre-draft workouts with a pair of teams – the Lakers and Phoenix Suns.

When asked at the NBA draft combine last month in Chicago whether he dreamed about playing alongside his dad, Bronny responded “no, never”

“My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself, and get to the NBA,” he added. “Which is everyone’s end goal that’s here.

“I never thought about just playing with my dad. But of course, he’s brought it up a couple of times.”

Bronny is a better NBA prospect than he was able to show in college because of his defensive upside and basketball IQ despite being undersized at 6-foot-1½ without shoes.

“I don’t think he’s wired to do any one thing that’s extreme,” said an NBA scout, who has evaluated USC and spoke on condition of anonymity to the Southern California News Group in the winter. “He’s not wired to be an extreme scorer. He’s not wired to be an extreme defensive player. He’s a basketball player.”

“He plays the right way. He does the right things. You know what you’re going to get out of him on the floor.”

But he’ll need to be more aggressive offensively, especially as a shotmaker, in the NBA.

Staff writer Luca Evans contributed to this story.