Skip to main content

LeBron James ‘very emotional’ after Lakers select his son Bronny with the 55th pick


LeBron and Bronny James just made NBA history this Thursday, as they are set to become the first-ever father and son duo to compete together at the same time in the league. This came true as the Lakers selected the 19-year-old during the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, taking him with the 55th pick. 

The former USC student was gathered with his family and friends at an intimate dinner party in New York, and shared his overall feelings with an Instagram post that read: "Beyond blessed."

After the purple and gold delivered their decision, the four-time NBA champion led the group with a champagne toast to celebrate the news. According to sources close to the press, LeBron was "very emotional" during his speech as he weighed in on the importance of what had just happened.

Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager knew how transcendental this was. "In the history of the NBA, there's never been a father and a son that have shared an NBA basketball court and that feels like something that could be magical.

"We know, and have to respect of course, that LeBron has a decision on his opt-out … but if it worked out that he was on our team next season, NBA history could be made. And NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform," Rob Pelinka said.

The soon-to-be rookie averaged only 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per match during his lone season with the Trojans, but mostly because he joined the team midseason after being sidelines for almost five months due to his recovery from a cardiac arrest episode.

However, the 19-year-old kept impressing and developing his game during the offseason, as he saw his stocks improve during the Draft Combine in Chicago, and proved to be one of the best during the agility drills. The ex-McDonald's All-American also displayed one of the best three-point shooting skills that weekend.

"Bronny is, first and foremost, a person of high character," added the Lakers executive. "And second, he is a young man that works incredibly hard. Those are the qualities we look for in drafting players and adding to our developmental corps at the Lakers."

Lakers superstar Anthony Davis approved of his team selecting Bronny in the draft, and even named some of his best qualities

Right before Thursday's second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles club already counted with the blessing of All-Star big man Anthony Davis to go ahead and select Bronny James with their 55th pick. According to the veteran center, the youngster has more qualities that you'd think.

"He's very good defensively," he told the press. "He can read the floor very well. I think he's a really good playmaker. I saw him work out a couple times besides the [Klutch Sports] pro day and working with a big — his reads, reading the defense, making the right passes — that was really impressive to me. I think he's going to be fine, man. Obviously it's a lot of pressure on him with his dad being who he is.

"But one thing about Bronny, from what I've seen and what I heard, he wants to create his own path and he doesn't want to be — even though he's LeBron James' son, he don't want be seen as that. And I think having that mindset and trying to create his own path is going to work out for him. … Who knows, he might come in and be ready to play for us."

Bronny might get his first chance to prove himself during the NBA Summer League, which is set to start in two weeks. The Lakers will play their first game of the competition against the Houston Rockets on July 12 in Las Vegas.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NBA Rumors: LeBron James' Son Bronny Is on Draft Boards of 'Multiple Teams'

Chris Coduto/Getty Images Bronny James' USC team has struggled this season, but that reportedly hasn't stopped the NBA interest in the son of legend LeBron James. "When I talk to people around the league, he's on the draft boards of multiple teams," Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Thursday: Charania noted teams around the league believe he is "further along" on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side, which makes performances like Wednesday's all the more important. The USC freshman finished with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting 5-of-11 from the field in one of his best offensive showings of the season in a loss to Arizona. The only game that he scored more points in was a Dec. 30 loss to Oregon State when he finished with 15 on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Perhaps most importantly, James played a season-high 30 minutes against the Wildcats on Wedn...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Happened to the Rivalry Between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony? - Bleacher Report

They were two young stars with unique and special abilities on the basketball court. They had recently played in a high-attention scholastic contest against each other. They were both selected in the same draft. The LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony rivalry was supposed to be the best individual rivalry since Magic and Bird. But while the relationship between Bird and Johnson is dramatized in a new Broadway play , Anthony and James will meet for the 15th time in their careers and do so without much fanfare. James and Anthony first met in a USA developmental camp in 2001 . Much like how Johnson raved about Bird after they played together on a college All-Star team playing in an international tournament, James couldn’t stop talking about Anthony. The two squared off in a high school showcase game the following year that pitted the player regarded as the best senior in the country (Anthony) against the one that was the best junior in the country (James), a game Anthony’s team wo...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘So You Think You Can Dance’ 18 episode 3 recap: In ‘Auditions: Day Three,’ one hopeful was like ‘the LeBron James of dance’

"So You Think You Can Dance" season 18 ended the first stage of the competition on Monday night, March 18, with the last dance hopefuls looking for a spot in the choreography round. So far the bar has been set pretty high by standout performances from dancers representing a variety of dance styles, shapes, sizes and ability levels. So who stood out among the last crop of contestants? Did the show save the best for last? "We've put 25 people through," said judge Allison Holker at the start of the show. She singled out contemporary dancer Braylon Browner and gymnast Dakayla Wilson as standouts from the first two days of auditions. Comfort Fedoke agreed that Wilson is capable of anything a professional choreographer could throw at her. Maksim Chmerkovskiy was especially impressed by contemporary dancer Easton Magliarditi . But "there's so many other things outside of dance that we're also looking at." More from GoldDerby SEE ...
Post a Comment
Read more