Like a perfect Hollywood script, the second round of the NBA draft offers the happy ending that everyone expected. In fact, with the 55th pick, the Lakers select 19-year-old Bronny James who will become, incredibly, his father LeBron’s teammate next season. A father and son combo had never been seen in the history of the NBA and after weeks of speculation and work under the radar of Bronny’s (and LeBron’s) agent Rich Paul who practically “ordered” all the other teams not to choose the former USC player, Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Lakers, decides to reunite the James family in the yellow and purple jersey.
james in history
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“For the first time a father and son will play on the same team in the NBA, it will be something absolutely magical – Pelinka emphasizes – Bronny has great moral qualities and is a tireless worker, these are the characteristics we look for in a Lakers prospect”. The accusation of nepotism, however, remains an element of an absolutely historic day, not only for the Californian franchise. Bronny, in fact, arrives in the NBA after only one season, decidedly mediocre, at USC in which he recorded only 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists for a team that struggled a lot, closing with a record of 15-18. According to many scouts, LeBron’s son is not ready, at least at the moment, for NBA basketball but the Lakers do not seem to care about the criticism and have already let it be known that Bronny will not be a so-called “Two-way player”, a player destined to shuttle between the G-League team and the NBA team, but an element of the roster of the LA team.
bronny in summer league
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The road to NBA basketball for the young James passes first of all through the Las Vegas Summer League which will see Bronny as the big attraction of the tournament, then there will be a lot of individual work to arrive in the best possible condition at the preparation camp for the season in September where he will find his father LeBron, fresh from the Paris Olympics, in the same locker room. The 55th pick thus becomes the great topic of discussion not only of the NBA draft but of the League in general and history is about to be rewritten by the James family. The idea that a player on the threshold of his 40s can share an NBA parquet with his son is certainly something extraordinarily fascinating, the fact that LeBron is still so dominant, so much so that he has earned a place in the third “All NBA” quintet the last season makes this epilogue even more incredible.
