LeBron James, Bronny playing together ‘no longer a priority,’ isn’t playing role in LeBron’s future
After once proclaiming a desire to play on the same team as his son Bronny, LeBron James’ goals look to have changed with the idea of teaming up no longer being a priority.
For years now, LeBron James’ future in the NBA has been shaped by his desire to play with his son, Bronny, once he entered the league. As that time has neared and Bronny's entering the NBA has become a more realistic possibility, LeBron has backed off of that goal.
In January of last year, he told ESPN that simply sharing the court with his son would be enough for him, walking back the part of being on the same team.
Further to that point, as LeBron enters the summer with the potential to become a free agent and Bronny has declared for the draft, the speculation is at a fever pitch. However, it doesn’t appear that it will amount to anything more than speculation.
On NBA Today on Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN appeared and spoke of a discussion he had with Rich Paul, who represents both LeBron and Bronny, and noted that teaming up is no longer the end goal.
“In my conversations with Rich Paul, who obviously represents LeBron James but will also represent Bronny James, is that the idea of them playing together is not a priority. It’s not foremost, at least any longer, in LeBron James’ mind.
Woj went on to further discuss Bronny’s goals in the predraft process, which is to try to find a landing spot where he can properly develop. After missing a portion of last season following his heart episode, Bronny will likely spend the season in the G League wherever he goes.
He did note that, according to Paul, if LeBron and Bronny organically ended up on the same team, “that’d be great,” but LeBron is not leveraging his son for his own situation.
The Lakers could still draft Bronny as they’ll likely have the 17th pick in the first round and the 55th pick late in the second round. However, that situation is out of their control.
The good news for the Lakers, though, is that none of this is playing into LeBron’s decision (emphasis mine).
“There are teams once you get into the second round, we’ll see how he does in the predraft process, (the Lakers) may not be able to draft him. It’s not free agency. Somebody else can take Bronny James. Those are the conversations Rich Paul is going to have with teams to try to figure out what might be the right spot, who might have interest at what spot in the draft. I think that’s’ the priority for them as a family, what’s best for Bronny James. If it ends up them together, well that would be great but I don’t get a sense that it’s playing much, if any, role in LeBron James’ decision on next season.”
The Lakers are at least open to the idea of drafting Bronny if it helps them retain LeBron. In a piece for The Athletic by Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha on Monday night, it was revealed the team was, in fact, “very open” to that idea.
“What’s more, team sources say the Lakers are very open to the prospect of helping LeBron fulfill his dream of playing with his son Bronny by potentially drafting him.”
After losing Game 5 on Monday, LeBron was asked if his dream was to still play with Bronny, and his answer was much different than when he was asked that question in the past.
“I don’t know,” LeBron said. “I haven’t given much thought lately. Obviously, I’ve thought about it in the past but at the end of the day, the kid has to do what he wants to do. I don’t even want to say kid no more. The young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go. I just think the fact that we’re even having the conversation is cool.”
If the Lakers draft Bronny, that’s certainly their own prerogative. But it’s pretty clear at this point that LeBron’s decision is in no way contingent on where Bronny goes, and nor should it be.
It’s not fair to Bronny and it seems LeBron has realized this as time has gone on. In an ideal world, he’d love to play with his son, I’m sure. But by publicly declaring it, he showed his hand pretty early and left open the possibility that other teams would use that as leverage, which they did.
It’s still a remarkable accomplishment of Bronny and LeBron are on the court together, should that come next season. It just isn’t something that’s going to determine where the latter goes this summer.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.