The first time he contacted the media in nearly a year to talk about his dream of going to the NBA, Bronny shared quite a surprise about the possibility of playing with his father, LeBron James.
The fact that LeBron James wants to play on the same line as his son Bronny has been mentioned many times by the Los Angeles Lakers star. This is even one of LeBron’s top goals before he retires.
But from the eldest son in the James family, the 19-year-old boy shared the opposite. Bronny’s goal at this time is not to play with his father but simply to be able to set foot in the NBA.
“My dream has always been for people to know me, to know my own name and certainly to set foot in the NBA. I never thought about playing with my dad, knowing that my dad mentioned it quite a few times,” Bronny James shared.
“Trying to practice and improve myself to play in the NBA will be what makes me happy instead of thinking about going on the court with my dad. I didn’t put much emphasis on it and didn’t think about it much during the past time.
I’m just trying to improve myself, show myself well when I get the chance and see how things go,” LeBron James’ 19-year-old son added.
Over the past two days, Bronny James joined 77 other players at the 2024 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
This is an annual physical testing event organized by the NBA about 1 month before the NBA Draft. Young talents often appear and express themselves at the Draft Combine, where teams often send scouts to attend.
Bronny left a certain impression by placing second in both 3-point shooting tests. LeBron James’s son’s rebounding power was also very good, reaching 40.5 inches (equivalent to 1.02 meters), the third highest in the entire event.
After a series of individual tests, Bronny had 19 minutes on the field in a practice match with his teammates. Here he performed relatively well in defense and assists, but only achieved 2-8 FGs the whole match.
Despite his plus points, Bronny James is still a long way from the NBA. His height of only 1 meter 85 meters will need to be compensated for by many other factors.
Bronny clearly understands this and aims to become a quality role-player instead of a top star on a team like LeBron James.
“I don’t want to be a top star. In the NBA, there are many excellent players who own that role. My goal now is to find a suitable role and bring the values that the teams need,” Bronny James shared.
“That will be what gets my name called in the NBA Draft or gets signed to play in the NBA. I’ve watched a lot of videos of Davion Mitchell, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, role models who maximize their abilities in their assigned roles.”
Being realistic in setting career development goals shows that Bronny James is on the right track.
LeBron’s son does not have much experience in NCAA basketball with only 25 matches in a season. Besides, Bronny has only returned 9 months after suffering a cardiac arrest at a practice session at the University of Southern California (USC).
Speaking further about this, the 19-year-old player said: “This has been a problem that has haunted me since that day. To this day, I’m still scared and thinking about it, but with the love of my parents and the support of my relatives, I believe I will completely overcome it.
I also don’t see this as an excuse when I don’t achieve my goals. Obviously it’s a step back, but it won’t make me give up on the dream I’ve been pursuing for many years.”
In the immediate future, Bronny James will have many practice sessions with NBA teams to show himself to scouts. Then he will hope his name is called at the 2024 NBA Draft event taking place on June 27-28, 2024.
