Los Angeles Lakers 20-time All-Star combo forward LeBron James spent much of a relatively joyless 2023-24 season putting up his typically terrific numbers while propping up the offense of a mediocre 47-35 L.A. squad. The 6-foot-9 four-time MVP appeared in over 70 games (71, to be precise) for the first time since his final season with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2017-18). He averaged 25.7 points on .540/.410/.750 shooting splits, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks a night, while being named to his 20th All-Star and All-NBA teams and finishing tenth in Clutch Player of the Year voting.
In 2024-25, James will be joined by his favorite teammate ever, and it’s possible that could expire him to continue performing at such great heights: James’ eldest son, Bronny, was selected with the No. 55 pick out of USC during the 2024 NBA Draft. Los Angeles inked the 6-foot-2 point guard to a four-year, fully-guaranteed standard roster contract.
During a new episode of DraftKings’ “GoJo & Golic Show,” hosted by ESPN alums Mike Golic Sr. and Mike Golic Jr., James paid the dynamic father-son duo a visit to talk about his own impending professional team-up with his son this season.
“It’s definitely different in the sense of just with Bronny being part of the team now, I’m looking at you two guys right now, I think it’s one of the greatest things in the world to be able to work with your kid,” James reflected. “This week, we got back into the gym and it was really the first time that me and Bronny were basically on the floor as professionals training, going against each other and preparing for the season. I had a couple moments where I kind of just lost focus, and I’m not used to losing focus when I’m out on the floor. But there was a couple times where I was looking to the side and just watching him and watching him prepare and go after it. It’s gonna be an unbelievable year for myself and I hope for him as well.”
Bronny James had an uneven debut run for the Lakers during the club’s Summer League games. Across six contests, the 19-year-old out of Sierra Canyon School averaged an underwhelming 7.0 points on a .327/.130/.625 slash line, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks across six contests.
“I think it’s gonna give me a sense of enjoying the moment a little bit more. When you’re so engulfed in training mode and determined mode, you’re so engulfed in the preparation and the process, sometimes you can lose track of some of the things that can happen throughout the course of the season where you should celebrate or you should be appreciating it a little more,” James added. “So I think with Bronny being here now, I think I can have a moment or two where I can kind of just sit back and be appreciative of just the moment itself. Because it doesn’t last forever. Like you guys mentioned, I am two decades-plus into this career, there’s no way in hell I’ll do another two decades-plus. So I got to appreciate some of it. To be alongside Bronny will definitely help with that.”
