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Adam Zagoria: Oregon has had contact with Bronny James and his family but nothing is expected soon in terms of a commitment, per sources. Still a long road ahead.
LeBron James: OH MY GOODNESS BRONNY!!!!! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Bronny's coast to coast slam with replays pic.twitter.com/qS7tIDELG8
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) August 15, 2022
For several days at Peach Jam, Nike’s annual summer recruiting showcase, LeBron James was just another basketball dad (albeit one with a security detail). He was there watching his eldest son, LeBron James Jr., who goes by Bronny and is figuring out where his basketball future lies, just like any other high school player entering his senior season (even ones with 6.3 million Instagram followers and a world-famous basketball superstar father). Bronny, a 6-foot-2 guard, is largely characterized as having a keen basketball I.Q. but lacking elite athleticism and a polished shot — an asset to almost any team but most likely a role player.
More than two dozen college and travel-ball coaches, N.B.A. scouts, television-network officials and teenagers who have played with and against Bronny expect his recruitment — if not quite The Decision Jr. — to be far from the norm. “I don’t think I’ll be on the phone all the time with the mom and the dad like I usually am,” said one head coach at a school with an interest in Bronny. This person, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because coaches are prohibited by N.C.A.A. rules from commenting publicly on recruitable athletes. Ed Estevan, the Strive for Greatness coach and an assistant at Sierra Canyon, expects Bronny to take recruiting visits this fall.
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A few things seem certain: If Bronny attends college, it will be at a school sponsored by Nike, which has invested heavily in his father since James entered the N.B.A. as a generational phenom in 2003. And ESPN, which has been a frequent collaborator with James, will be an eager partner. James’s longtime advisers, Rich Paul and Maverick Carter, will be conduits for anyone interested in recruiting Bronny. “I’ve got to listen to dad, Rich or Maverick,” said an assistant at a school that has expressed interest in recruiting him.
Adam Zagoria: Bronny James and Sierra Canyon will travel to Paris and London next month for games that will be shown on ESPN, per sources. Bronny and Strive for Greatness will also play Tuesday in Vegas in an ESPN game.
“King James” runs through April 10 before the production moves to Los Angeles. Joseph said James’ production company is aware of the project and read an early draft. The author hopes it eventually makes its way to New York City and beyond. “I certainly would love for the play to come to Cleveland,” he said. Perhaps by then, it will need a different ending, one Joseph would like to write. “Bring LeBron back to Cleveland with Bronny. They’d win another trophy for us.”
LeBron James Jr. wouldn't be a one-and-done player if not for his dad?
There is one aspect of the recent LeBron James/Lakers saga in zero dispute: He continues to openly dream of playing alongside son Bronny in the NBA… He won’t be eligible for the NBA until the 2024 draft and, based on my own checking with various teams, Bronny wouldn’t be a draft candidate that quickly — based on where he is as a player today — without the nudge he’s getting from Dad, who will turn 40 during the 2024-25 season. As one Eastern Conference personnel voice tried to gently put it: “I don’t think he’d be a one-and-done player if he wasn’t LeBron’s son.”
LeBron James: My last year will be played with Bronny
LeBron James’ message to all 30 teams Saturday was clear: If you want me, draft Bronny. “My last year will be played with my son,” James said. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”
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Joe Mullinax: Ziaire Williams said it just hit him that he’s playing LeBron. Ziaire was Bronny’s teammate at Sierra Canyon HS
IMDb TV is teaming with LeBron James and Maverick Carter on Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers, a docuseries about a new mecca of high school athletics just outside of Los Angeles.
Executive produced by James and Carter as part of their Uninterrupted brand, Top Class follows six principal players during the highly publicized 2019-20 season of Sierra Canyon School’s boys basketball program. The back-to-back state champion Trailblazers exploded onto basketball’s national stage with one of the highest-profile classes in history, including some of the nation’s highest-ranking players: BJ Boston, Amari Bailey, Bronny James, Shy Odom, Zaire Wade and Ziaire Williams.
Teenage Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James, during a video game stream, unveils that he has harmed his meniscus and cannot play basketball since the injury.
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