Getty Image / Christian Petersen
- LeBron James has made it clear he wants to play with Bronny James before he retires
- One NBA executive has cast some doubt on whether that will be a possibility
- Read more BroBible articles here
Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of speculation about the future of LeBron James. Many are wondering if he will stay with the Lakers after this season, if he could return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and where he could go once his Lakers’ contract is up.
There isn’t much about his future we really know for sure about where LeBron will spend his career after this season, but there is one thing he has made clear. LeBron wants the chance to play with Bronny James before he retires.
Some believe this could influence teams to draft Bronny and many just assume Bronny James will be a high-level NBA player just because of who his dad is. However, that might not actually be the case.
Marc Stein reported earlier in the week that one NBA executive isn’t even sure if James should actually leave college after his freshman year or if he’d be drafted if he does.
“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.’”
It’s surprising to hear with how the LeBron-Bronny pairing has been talked about in recent years. It’s also a unique situation in the NBA. Even Michael Jordan’s kids were never really on the draft radar and he never talked about playing with them.
We also don’t really know what the value of adding a 40-year-old LeBron James to your roster will really be. Will it be enough to get somebody to draft Bronny James after 1 year in college even if he clearly needs a couple more years of seasoning?
This latest assessment makes the whole situation way more interesting and now makes the development of Bronny James much more important to monitor over the next few years.