It was the dream that LeBron James first floated a few years ago, the notion of playing in the NBA alongside one of his sons.
And it’s a step closer to reality now.
Bronny James — the oldest son of the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and four-time champion — was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that his father has played for since 2018. Bronny James was taken with the No.55 overall pick, deep in the second round and with only three picks remaining in this year’s draft.
Adding further intrigue to the move: LeBron James can become a free agent next week, which means he could choose to leave the Lakers and sign elsewhere.
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The draft move doesn’t guarantee that father and son will actually play in a game together, nor does it even guarantee that Bronny James will be on the Lakers’ roster next season.
But it certainly raises the possibility that it could happen in what would be an NBA first — a father-son on-court duo in the league simultaneously as players. There have been about 100 instances in NBA history of players joining the league after their fathers played, but those always came at least five years after the father’s career ended.
But LeBron James’ incredible longevity — he’ll match Vince Carter for the longest career as an NBA player ever this coming season, which will be his 22nd in the league — makes the father-son duo possible.
The other man that made this possible apart from James Sr, was his and Bronny’s agent, Rich Paul.
Paul was working the phone all night to make sure James Jr made it to the Lakers, with other teams looking to jump in before Los Angeles to draft Bronny.
That claim was made by former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers on ESPN’s NBA Draft telecast.
Myers revealed that Paul was doing his utmost to keep rival teams away from LeBron James’ eldest son, even issuing a threat that the younger James would not play for them, and would in turn play in the NBL instead.
“Rich Paul’s calling teams and saying, ‘Don’t take Bronny James,'” Myers said.
“He’s telling them, ‘Do not take them.’ OK? He’s saying, ‘Don’t take him. If you take him he’s going to Australia. So he has a plan and he has a place.”
Myers added: “I think we can all imagine what the goal is for Rich Paul in that situation. There’s a difference between hoping that happens and making sure that happens.”
He added that the message to teams picking ahead of the Lakers is effectively: “If you’re thinking about it, don’t do it.”
Bronny James is a guard, one who was listed at 6-foot-4 on Southern California’s roster but measured at 6 feet, 1 1/2 inches at the draft combine. That would make him one of the shortest players in the NBA, but his athleticism and defensive ability helped give him this opportunity.
He played one year of college basketball at USC and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season.
He played in 25 games, missing the start of the season after needing a procedure last year to fix what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defect, which was found after he went into cardiac arrest during a summer workout.
A panel of doctors cleared Bronny James for NBA play last month.
Day two of the draft saw 24 other players get taken before Bronny James, though none of them — not even close, really — got the attention that the No.55 selection received, for obvious reasons.
The 55th pick rarely turns out to be a player who captures a slew of attention. The best 55th pick in NBA history would be current Miami Heat guard and Boomers legend Patty Mills, selected in 2009 and someone who has scored 7,893 points in his 15-season career.
Some other notable No.55 picks include Marc Iavaroni, Mark Blount, Kenny Gattison and E’Twaun Moore. There’s never been a No.55 pick that was an NBA All-Star, an All-NBA player, an All-Rookie team player or an All-Defensive team pick.
Last season’s No.55 pick, Isaiah Wong, scored exactly two points for Indiana as a rookie. Add up every No.55 pick ever, and their NBA career scoring total is 28,364 points — more than 12,000 points less than LeBron James has scored in his career.