The Los Angeles Lakers burned a second-round pick to draft LeBron James’ son, Bronny, on Thursday evening—a shock move that makes the duo the first father and son to play at the same time in the NBA.
Bronny, just 19, was selected at No. 55 overall. That’s significantly higher than most had the starlet going into this week’s draft in Brooklyn, with his limited basketball résumé holding him back in the eyes of most teams.
Still, undoubtedly because of his dad’s stardom, Bronny has found himself on an NBA roster. He averaged just 4.8 points per game, mostly coming off the bench, in his final college season at the University of Southern California.
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Some experts have suggested that’s not the best tell of Bronny’s true talent, however, as he’s still less than a year removed from going into cardiac arrest and collapsing during a workout at USC.
Bronny was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that could be treated, a spokesperson for his family previously said, and he rejoined playing for the Trojans by the fall having missed the team’s first nine games.
James has long spoken about hoping to one day play alongside his son. His wife, Savannah James, gave birth to Bronny in Oct. 2004—a year after his own NBA debut.
Even at 39, James has remained one of the NBA’s most dynamic players and has shown no signs of slowing down. He averaged 25 points and eight assists per game—mind-boggling stats for a man his age.
