Talk is heating up once again about whether the elder son of basketball superstar LeBron James will declare for the 2024 NBA Draft.
The sports world has been watching intently to see if the famous father will make his longstanding dream come true to play on the same time with his son, much the way Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. did with the Seattle Mariners back in the early 1990s.
King James once said that his favorite non-basketball athlete was fellow Buckeye State native Ken Griffey Jr. The fact that Griffey was able to get drafted out of Cincinnati and suit up with his father in a baseball uniform in Washington state made a lasting impression on the basketball icon.
However, Bronny James’ paltry numbers, coupled with the fact that he is still only months away from recovering from life-threatening cardiac arrest, stand as major impediments to getting drafted this year.
Bronny James doesn’t even start. the 19-year-old freshman for the University of Southern California Trojans comes off the bench, and is only averaging 5.0 points per game on just 37 percent shooting to go along with 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
LeBron James’ wunderkind agent Rich Paul told ESPN that the decision to leap into the NBA from the USC bench should not be rushed.
“I don’t value a young player getting into the lottery as much as I do getting him on the right team in the right developmental situation,” Paul said.
Rich Paul says Bronny James' decision to enter 2024 NBA Draft is based on “team interest, not draft position”, per @wojespn.
“I don't value a young player getting into the lottery as much as I do getting him on the right team in the right developmental situation.” pic.twitter.com/j3KZnTMqIP
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 3, 2024
Ex-players debate about LeBron James and son playing on the same team
The subject of the younger son’s NBA viability was the subject of a bitter debate between two former league players.
Stephen Jackson took umbrage at Austin Rivers’ belief that LeBron and Bronny James should not play on the same team if Bronny makes the move to the NBA.
“Difference is you trash, Bronny not. You can’t compare to him scrub. And your daddy not LeBron. Shut up,” Jackson wrote in the comments on an Instagram post that highlighted Rivers’ comments.
Rivers later retorted: “All smiles…I didn’t even have to fight my own battles with ignorance, yall corrected it for me!! Thank you for not siding with delusion. Have a blessed day,” Rivers wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Rivers believes that it would amount to undue pressure to try to play with the vast shadow his legendary father cast over the team and the league.
“I don’t want to see Bronny play with [LeBron]… Him getting drafted & playing with his dad, I don’t want that negativity to come his way. He doesn’t deserve it… [He needs to] play somewhere where he can niche out his own identity,” Rivers told ‘NBA Today.’
