A childhood dream has been cashed in for Bronny James.
With the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers took the 19-year-old guard as a building piece for their future — a moment that also symbolized NBA history as Bronny and LeBron James are the first father-son duo to play together.
As it is with most athletes, the moment of hearing your name called brings a lot of emotion out, as it represents all the blood, sweat and tears that led up to the moment of becoming a professional athlete.
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But when that moment includes playing alongside your dad, well it adds an extra layer of specialness to it — which seemed to be the case for the younger James, who learned of the Lakers selecting him while surrounded by friends and family at a New York restaurant Thursday.
ESPN Lakers reporter Dave McMenamin told Malika Andrews shortly after the conclusion of Thursday’s second round on ESPN that LeBron James “got very emotional” during his champagne toast at the New York restaurant as his son was, not just because the two will play together with the Lakers, but on the fact that his son was drafted at all.
Thursday’s selection by the Lakers comes less than a year after Bronny James went into cardiac arrest during a USC practice in July of 2023. The injury, which was later discovered to be caused by a congenital heart defect, kept Bronny James through the first month of the Trojans 2023-24 season. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 25 games for USC this past season.
