Bronny James is both the newest member of the Los Angeles Lakers and his dad’s newest teammate.
The Lakers took Bronny, 19, with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, teaming him up with his father and arguably the greatest player ever, LeBron James.
LeBron, 39, has been in the NBA for longer than Bronny has been alive, meaning Bronny grew up watching his dad from the sidelines. To celebrate his son’s new status as a professional basketball player, LeBron took to Instagram on Thursday, June 27, posting a throwback of him and Bronny on the sideline before a game.
It comes from LeBron’s time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two are sitting on the Cavs’ bench, with LeBron wearing his signature headband and early 2000s-style baggy warm-ups. Bronny is next to him, focused intently on whatever is happening on the court.
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“LEGACY!!!!!! 
,” LeBron wrote in the caption.
The next two slides of the four-post carousel show an older Bronny executing a between-the-legs dunk. The final slide is of father and son, both wearing their Lakers jerseys.
Bronny is LeBron’s oldest son. The future Hall of Famer shares Bronny, son Bryce, 17, and daughter Zhuri, 9 with his wife, Savannah James.
Though Bronny was once a highly touted high school prospect, his college career did not go as planned. Last summer, before his freshman year, he suffered cardiac arrest on the court at USC. He spent three days in the hospital and missed the first month of the 2023-24 season, debuting for the Trojans in mid-December.
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When he finally got on the court, Bronny struggled. He averaged only 4.8 points per game and shot 27 percent from three-point range. After the season, he declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal with the expectation of playing elsewhere next year if he decided to return to college. Duquesne, which is coached by LeBron’s high school coach Keith Dambrot, was seen as a potential destination before Bronny opted to stay in the draft.
Bronny’s lackluster college season made him the target of mockery from fans and criticism from media, who once saw him as an elite NBA Draft prospect. It caused LeBron to defend him via X during the season in a since-deleted series of posts.
“Can yall please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball,” LeBron wrote. “The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do.”
“If y’all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!” he added.
Next, Bronny will need to earn a place on the Lakers roster by proving himself at NBA Summer League. As his father says, those spots aren’t just given out.
