LeBron James Jr. wouldn't be a one-and-done player if not for his dad?

There is one aspect of the recent LeBron James/Lakers saga in zero dispute: He continues to openly dream of playing alongside son Bronny in the NBA… He won’t be eligible for the NBA until the 2024 draft and, based on my own checking with various teams, Bronny wouldn’t be a draft candidate that quickly — based on where he is as a player today — without the nudge he’s getting from Dad, who will turn 40 during the 2024-25 season. As one Eastern Conference personnel voice tried to gently put it: “I don’t think he’d be a one-and-done player if he wasn’t LeBron’s son.”
Source: Marc Stein @ marcstein.substack.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
Ingram is just GIVING it to the Lakers. Goodness. No spirit or fight out there from the home team.
Gotta factor in the injuries but man … it is astonishing to see a LeBron James team this punchless.
He’s never had less help and never needed more. – 11:56 PM Chris Palmer @ChrisPalmerNBA
Sit LeBron in the 4th. No point. – 11:55 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Third quarter: Pelicans 95, Lakers 65
The third quarter was a calamity of errors — turnovers, missed layups, boos. LA’s body language and effort said it all. In a disappointing season full of lows, this is a new low point. LA is up to 21 turnovers — LeBron & Russ each have 7. – 11:55 PM Scott Kushner @ScottDKushner
Ingram finishes over LeBron to take a 30 point lead.
That’s a sentence some people will like. – 11:53 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
Naji Marshall with a block from behind of LeBron James 👀 – 11:53 PM Christian Clark @cclark_13
Naji Marshall swatted LeBron off the backboard. Hang the banner. – 11:53 PM Rick Noland @RickNoland
Ultimate respect for his talent, but more he plays more we see LeBron should never be a GM – 11:46 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
CJ McCollum pull-up 3-pointer makes it a 72-53 lead for the Pelicans … and then LeBron James whips a cross court bounce pass to someone sitting courtside. – 11:37 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Boo birds here in the arena as LeBron turns it over on an attempted cross court bounce pass, and the Lakers fall behind by 22 points in the third quarter. – 11:36 PM Will Guillory @WillGuillory
LeBron is getting zero lift on his jumper tonight. You can tell that knee isn’t right. – 11:29 PM Allen Sliwa @AllenSliwa
11 turnovers between Bron and Russ in the 1st half… – 11:13 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Halftime: Pelicans 51, Lakers 40
Awful end to the half for LA, who was outscored 10-3 over the final 2:31 to turn a 4-point deficit into an 11-point deficit. LeBron James has 13 points. No other Laker is in double figures. LA has 16 turnovers to just 8 assists. – 11:08 PM Will Guillory @WillGuillory
End of the 1st half: Pelicans 51, Lakers 40
Ingram 11 pts
McCollum 7 pts (3-9 FG)
Valanciunas 6 pts & 6 rebs
One of the ugliest halves basketball I’ve seen all year. Lakers turned the ball over 16 times. The Pels shot 4-14 on 3s, 5-10 on FTs. LeBron and Russ have been rough. – 11:07 PM Bill Oram @billoram
Ugly Russ turnover leads to a Herb Jones breakaway and the Pelicans go up 14 before LeBron bank in a 3 to send Lakers into halftime trailing 51-40. – 11:05 PM Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
LeBron was ball-watching on that Snell three like he was a spectator in the crowd. AK – 11:04 PM Tony Jones @Tjonesonthenba
First bit of burst from LeBron all game – 11:02 PM Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Four turnovers apiece for LeBron and Westbrook now, as LAL’s total climbs to 13.
LAL got within 1 before the most recent 2 TO’s sparked a 6-0 NOP run to put them up 40-33. – 10:56 PM Tony Jones @Tjonesonthenba
LeBron isn’t moving well at all – 10:56 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
For instance, did you guys catch Carmelo Anthony lazily double CJ McCollum without any regard for Jonas Valanciunas (Melo’s man) who walked into the lane totally unabated and scored the lay-in over LeBron? – 10:45 PM Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
This Lakers defense is hysterically bad with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in the front court. Wow. – 10:44 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
First quarter: Pelicans 24, Lakers 20
The Lakers had nine turnovers in the first quarter — seven of which came from their starters (three from Dwight Howard). This new starting unit’s offense continues to be subpar. Russell Westbrook has 8 points. LeBron James has 6. – 10:39 PM Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Lakers trail 24-20 after 1.
Last game, they were 0 for 10 from 3 in the 1st Q against the Clippers, and started 0 for 5 tonight until THT hit one in the final minute.
Big issue was turnovers, with Dwight Howard committing 3,
and LeBron, Westbrook and Monk 2 each. – 10:37 PM Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
Jayson Tatum’s final game as a 23-year old is Tuesday. Tonight he passed Anthony Davis into what will be his final spot, 12th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list for players 23 and under.
Trailing only LeBron, KD, Melo, T-Mac, Kobe, Booker, Shaq, KAT, Dwight, Wiggins and Giannis – 10:27 PM Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
LeBron James trying to attack the basket early. I suspect the Pelicans will start throwing defending LeBron withs some of their bigger players – 10:16 PM Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_Eichenhofer
Herbert Jones opens defensively against LeBron. CJ McCollum matched up with Westbrook, a player he’s very familiar with from playing in same division and meeting in West playoffs – 10:13 PM Christian Clark @cclark_13
I can’t believe LeBron couldn’t believe he fouled Jaxson Hayes. – 10:13 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Lakers rolling with the same starters against the Pelicans tonight:
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Trevor Ariza
Austin Reaves
Russell Westbrook – 9:30 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Same starting lineup for the Lakers tonight: LeBron, Russ, Dwight, Ariza, Reaves – 9:30 PM Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Frank Vogel confirmed LeBron James is playing tonight. – 8:25 PM Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said LeBron James will play tonight vs Pelicans. Lakers had listed LeBron earlier as questionable – 8:24 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Though LeBron James was officially listed as “questionable” in the earlier game notes, Frank Vogel confirms he’s in. Avery Bradley remains out today against the Pelicans. – 8:24 PM Christian Clark @cclark_13
LeBron James will play tonight, Frank Vogel says. – 8:24 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
Frank Vogel confirms LeBron James will play tonight despite QUESTIONABLE designation. – 8:23 PM Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_Eichenhofer
Frank Vogel says LeBron James will play vs. #Pelicans. He was listed as questionable on injury report – 8:23 PM Quinton Mayo @RealQuintonMayo
LeBron James normalized greatness. – 6:26 PM Bob Garcia @bgarciaivsports
LeBron James should take a page out of Damian Lillard’s playbook.
#Lakers #LakeShow #NBA
sportscasting.com/lebron-james-n… – 4:42 PM Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
The latest on LeBron and the Lakers, Michael Jordan on the All-Star stage, buyout market updates, coaching news and more … ALL here via my latest This Week In Basketball column: marcstein.substack.com/p/bottom-line-… – 1:10 PM Sam Amick @sam_amick
ICYMI, LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, discusses the two-hour meeting he had with Lakers brass last week and insists there’s no division here, at @TheAthletic
theathletic.com/3150986/2022/0… – 12:05 PM Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 2008, the @Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James scored 26 points in a loss to the Celtics, surpassing 10,000 career points in the process.
James is the youngest player in NBA history to reach that mark (age in years-days):
23-059 James
24-033 Kevin Durant
24-194 Kobe Bryant pic.twitter.com/wRXGU5lT2o – 12:01 PM Tommy Beer @TommyBeer
Over his last 5 games,
RJ Barrett is averaging:
29.2 points,
6.0 rebs,
3.2 made 3PTs
He is just the seventh player in NBA history age 21 or younger to avg at least 29/6/3 over a five-game span
The other six:
LeBron, KD, Tatum, D Book, Trae Young and Luka
tommybeer.substack.com/p/rj-scores-ca… – 8:41 AM Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
The NBA world has witnessed a lot of passive-aggressive LeBron James this past week.
If CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram pick up from where they left off against the Suns, there’s a good chance that the Pelicans add to The King’s frustration. https://t.co/56xyj2KGFS pic.twitter.com/6LjHqHTX6v – 8:03 AM Chris Kirschner @ChrisKirschner
Trae Young had his 22nd 40+ point game in his career. Only Jordan and LeBron had more at 23 or younger, per @ESPNStatsInfo.
There were many who thought scoring might be a challenge for him. I asked Trae why he feels like scoring has been something he’s excelled at since Day 1. pic.twitter.com/n6FcVRfwJI – 10:33 PM StatMuse @statmuse
Trae Young tonight:
41 PTS
11 AST
17-24 FG
He joins LeBron James, James Harden and Steph Curry (2x) as the only players with a 40p/10a game on 70% shooting since 2010. pic.twitter.com/dZtKvxBo8L – 9:46 PM Jim Eichenhofer @Jim_Eichenhofer
#Pelicans injury list remains unchanged from previous games; Lakers have listed LeBron James (knee) as questionable for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles. Saturday’s official injury report via @MorrisBartLLC: https://t.co/zSoeCmOIBs pic.twitter.com/jgauvikyx8 – 8:08 PM

More on this storyline

In the aftermath of LeBron James’ public comments on a possible return to Cleveland and media reports describing his agency’s displeasure with the organization, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday, insisting that there’s no movement underway to seek management changes and that he believes there’s a shared accountability for the franchise’s disappointing season, sources told ESPN. -via ESPN / February 25, 2022 Paul — whose agency represents stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis — made it clear that James’ primary objective is remaining a Laker and the goal now ought to be to finish the season as strong as possible and then regroup in the offseason on ways to improve the team, sources said. -via ESPN / February 25, 2022 After Pelinka resisted making any deals at the trade deadline, James’ own public comments — raising the possibility of a return to Cleveland and praising Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti — started to fuel speculation that he could leave in free agency in 2023. Paul has privately downplayed that possibility, and told the Lakers that James is committed to playing his part in helping the Lakers to become championship contenders again, sources said. -via ESPN / February 25, 2022