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With his eldest son Bronny James set to make his college basketball debut for the USC Trojans in the coming weeks, LeBron James has confirmed that if the 19-year-old makes his debut on a night that the Los Angeles Lakers are playing, he’ll be skipping his game to see his son’s.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday after the Lakers’ 133-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 38-year-old James said that he’s informed his teammates of his decision because he believes in “family over everything.”
“He loves playing it, he loves competing, he loves being out there just having a good time, having fun, been doing it for a long time, and he’s put the work in,” James told reporters this week.
“It’ll be exciting. Looking forward to his first game whenever he’s cleared and whenever he’s ready to have his first game. I already told my teammates that if they play on the same day we’re playing, then I’ma have to catch them next game, so… family over everything.”
When LeBron announced tonight that if his son, Bronny’s, college hoops debut falls on the same night as a Lakers game, he’d skip work to attend the USC game a couple of his teammates jokingly protested. There are a few overlapping dates coming up: 12/28; 12/30; 1/3; 1/13; 1/17 pic.twitter.com/YZEHqK6N9E
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 1, 2023
While the 2023-24 college basketball season kicked off a few weeks ago, Bronny James — who was a McDonald’s All-American during his senior season at Sierra Canyon — has only just been cleared to play after he suffered from cardiac arrest five months ago.
According to ESPN, James was the 20th overall prospect in his high school class after he averaged 14.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game during his senior season.
Prior to choosing the University of Southern California, he also considered attending Ohio State University and the University of Oregon.
LeBron has long been vocal about his desire to play on an NBA team with his son Bronny, who will be eligible for the NBA Draft after this season. Given the time he’s missed due to his recovery and his still uncertain status as an NBA prospect, it will be interesting to see whether or not the James family decides he should declare after his freshman year.