It’s slowly becoming more like a when than an if for LeBron James and his desire to share an NBA court with his son Bronny. The Los Angeles Lakers star isn’t just hinting at it, either. James has been vocal about having a father-son team-up as one of the final items on his NBA career bucket list.
It’s easy to talk about it – as NBA fans and pundits alike have done so endlessly ever since Bronny entered public consciousness. But it’s a whole different matter for it to actually happen.
In a recent feature from Sports Illustrated’s Chris Ballard, NBA executives shed some light on their plans – or lack thereof – when it comes to LeBron James and his declaration on wanting to play with Bronny on whatever team allows it to happen. While teams are obviously interested in the current Lakers star committing to the team that draft’s Bronny, it’s still a highly complex move to think about.
Via SI:
The audience they ultimately need to convince resides in NBA front offices, and in the weeks that follow I talk to various executives about LeBron’s intention to play with Bronny. “I’m sure, when that day comes”—when Bronny becomes draft-eligible—”you have to think about it: Can we get LeBron for the midlevel exception?” says one front-office exec. (LeBron’s recent extension with the Lakers means he’ll control his own destiny in 2024–25.) “But do you draft Bronny first, even if he’s not good, because you might get LeBron on the cheap? That’s kind of wild.” He pauses. “I don’t think he’s a first-rounder, but I don’t think he’s nothing.”
Another is the fact that it could potentially be too early to tell. Bronny James is nearing his next move prior to being eligible to make the NBA, but his skills aren’t exactly screaming surefire lottery pick if he doesn’t share the same genetics as LeBron. He could be two to three years away if he decides to hone his craft and be 100 percent ready for the leap to the pros.
Then of course, there’s the fact that LeBron and Bronny are trending in opposite directions right now. How long with King James keep up the superstar level play enough to warrant teams bending over backwards to acquire Bronny? When will Bronny be considered skilled enough to make an impact in the NBA – if that date even comes at all? These are reportedly questions all front offices are considering for the yet-to-be-predicted time that the LeBron-Bronny sweepstakes begins.
Then there’s the difficulty of trying to project two years ahead. Will there be a new collective bargaining agreement? Will the league add a third round to the draft? And where will LeBron and Bronny be as players? NBA teams are good at projecting upward trajectories and downward trajectories—but this? This requires plotting both Bronny’s rise and LeBron’s decline on the same graph, and that’s particularly challenging. “You’re talking about arguably the greatest player ever, so no forecasting model exists,” says the GM. “[LeBron] has defied everything. For most players, you might predict a 10% decline per year at that age, but I’m not sure you can say that for him. The 40-year-old version of him might be incredible.”
It’s more than likely that LeBron James and his son Bronny will share an NBA court someday. But there’s going to be a lot that goes into making it actually happen. NBA teams are already acutely aware of that on their end, too.
