Bronny James was finally selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft on Thursday. His name wasn’t called until the No. 55 pick by the Los Angeles Lakers thanks to Rich Paul paving the wayand now he joins his father, LeBron James, as the fourth father-son duo to be teammates on a major professional sports team.
The James family did not attend to hear Bronny’s name in person. Instead, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, they got together for a private dinner in New York City with friends and family. LeBron’s eldest son had a reserved reaction when he heard NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum call his name for the Lakers.
As soon as it was official, Bronny was drafted and went to the Lakers to play with his father, the rest of the basketball world reacted with praise and good wishes.
Nike placed a photo of a young Bronny with the caption, “Pressure was never an issue…” next to a photo of the older Bronny with the ending line of “when passion was always the answer.”
LeBron James didn’t leave a big message on social media reacting to his newest teammate. He led a champagne toast at the private dinner they attended, according to ESPN, and posted some photos of him and Bronny on Instagram, including one from early in his career with the caption “LEGACY!!!!!!”
Other NBA players were also watching to see where Bronny was drafted. When it was announced that the Lakers had selected him, future contenders chimed in with support, such as Dejounte Murray of the Atlanta Hawks, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls and Chris Paul of the Golden State Warriors.
BRON being able to see his son in the same shirt as him has to be the biggest FLEX Shout out BRONNY!!!!!
– Dejounte Murray (@DejounteMurray) June 27, 2024
Imagine being able to play with your child! This is historic, having 2 boys I couldn’t imagine what it would be like
-Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) June 27, 2024
Lakers great and iconic X-wearer Magic Johnson congratulated the James family, highlighting the historic moment of a father and son duo being in the NBA at the same time.
“Watching Bronny suit up for the @Lakers during Summer League in Las Vegas will be must-see TV!” the Hall of Fame wrote.
It wasn’t just the basketball world that reacted to Bronny’s new team. Montez Sweat of the Chicago Bears I asked myself“I’m curious to know how Bronny referred to his father in practice haha.”
Now that Bronny is a Laker, his father has a decision to make. LeBron James has until 5 p.m. ET to opt out of the final season of his contract with the Lakers, which would pay him $51.4 million, or he can become an unrestricted free agent. McMenamin reports that the team is willing to offer LeBron a 3-year, $162 million max contract to stay.
Having hired his former podcast partner JJ Redick as the team’s head coach and drafted his son, chances are LeBron will continue wearing the purple and gold for a while longer.
