LeBron James and his wife, Savannah James, are opening up about their son Bronny’s health scare for the first time.
“I think at the end of the day, it was just about us supporting each other and just being super grateful for the outcome,” Savannah, 38, tearfully said in Netflix’s Starting 5 docuseries.
Bronny, now 20, had been rushed to the emergency room in July 2023 after suffering cardiac arrest during basketball practice at the University of Southern California.
“Shout out to the man, above,” LeBron, 39, said in Starting 5. “To the whole coaching staff, training staff, members of that program, thank you so much. They are the reason Bronny is alive now and smiling and thriving and doing what any 19-year-old should be doing, and that’s living out their dream.”
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In the doc, LeBron and his mother, Gloria, visited the USC basketball facility and met with Erin, who works for the school’s medical team. LeBron referred to Erin as a “lifesaver,” who performed CPR on Bronny “when he went down.”
“It’s crazy with kids when they love something and they want something, that’s all that matters to them,” LeBron added. “As a parent, you’re like, ‘You had a cardiac arrest, like…,’ and in his mind he’s like, ‘Can I or can I not play ball again and if the answer is yes, when can I play ball again?’ Like, I love that.”
The basketball icon continued, “Bronny’s the first person in the family to go to college. Nobody in my family ever went to college and to see my son playing the game he loves at the collegiate level but to see where he is as a young man is, like, ‘Wow, it could have been so much more worse for our family.’”
Bronny sat out most of the USC season — his first on the team — before returning to the court in December 2023. He later declared for the NBA draft earlier this year. In July, Bronny signed with the Los Angeles Lakers and became the first athlete to play in the league alongside his father. (LeBron notably is one of the Lakers’ star players.)
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Starting 5, which is now streaming on Netflix, highlights several of the top NBA stars during the 2023 season, including LeBron. The docuseries chronicles LeBron’s life on the court and his home life with Savannah and their kids Bronny, Bryce, 17, and Zhuri, 9.
“You get old and you really start to dial in on the s— that’s really important,” LeBron gushed of his wife. “You really understand what the true meaning of a partner is and you really understand what a family truly, truly means, then your eyes are able to see more. I wouldn’t be who I am [and] I wouldn’t have had the career I’ve had without her.”
Savannah, for her part, added that she is “proud” of the pair “keeping a sense of normalcy in such an abnormal situation.”
“Both of us are just really young at heart [and] I think that’s the best way to keep things fresh and new,” Savannah said. “We are two peas in a pod. He’s my bestie.”
Starting 5 is now streaming on Netflix.
