The Los Angeles Lakers have opted against using their 2024 first-round pick to draft Bronny James, as LeBron’s eldest son was snubbed entirely on Wednesday night.
Potentially projected to be among the first 30 picks amid his superstar father’s player option this offseason, Bronny, 19, and his entourage were nowhere to be seen at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the first night of the draft.
Instead, LeBron posted footage of himself with Bronny and his younger son Bryce, 17, hooping in Manhattan on Instagram, Wednesday, captioning his post: ‘Not a feeling in the fkn world better than being around raising my boys to MEN!
‘Pops over here getting emotional as hell just thinking yall journey so far! Thank you both for allowed me to be your DAD and be part of your compass through life’s trials and tribulations!’
Instead of drafting Bronny as the 17th overall pick on Wednesday, the Lakers selected Dalton Knecht, out of Tennessee. Bronny’s college teammate at Southern California, Isaiah Collier, was also drafted in the first round (No. 29) by the Utah Jazz.
LA’s move in the draft will certainly be interesting to analyze in the coming days as the 39-year-old LeBron has until Saturday to ponder over a $51.4million player option in his current deal.
According to ESPN, the Lakers are ‘committed to re-signing James’ and are willing to offer him the full three-year max contract ($162million) he is eligible for this summer.
James, who is expected to opt out of his current contract, will play onto the age of 42 in the NBA if he extends his stay in LA.
The four-time NBA champion has talked publicly about retirement without providing any specifics on when that could be over the past 12 months.
Recently, however, he’s distanced himself from talks of him signing with any team that drafts Bronny, if that happens this year, describing the teen as his ‘own man.’
This past season, James proved that age is just a number as he averaged 25.7 points on 54.0 percent shooting, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Lakers, who just hired JJ Redick as their new head coach.
James and Redick are close off the court. They co-hosted a basketball podcast ‘Mind the Game,’ together up until the latter’s hiring this week.
Bronny, who worked out with the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, earlier this month, played just 25 games in his only season at Southern California in 2023-2024.
His season was delayed after he underwent a procedure to treat a congenital heart defect following cardiac arrest at a USC practice last July.
A 6-foot-4 guard, Bronny averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, shooting 36.6 percent from the field over 19.3 minutes.