Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has got to be feeling pretty proud these days. First, his son Bronny James is working his way through the NBA Draft process, and now younger son Bryce James had a poster dunk in a game earlier this week go viral.
LeBron clearly loved it. And he made sure that people knew about it, sharing his reaction to Bryce’s slam on Instagram.
It’s shaping up to be a big offseason for LeBron and the Lakers. the team just hired James’ podcast co-host JJ Redick as the team’s next head coach after flirting with UConn’s Dan Hurley. As a first-time head coach – just like the fired Darvin Ham, the man he’s replacing – there will be a lot a pressure on Redick to win immediately with the pieces that the Lakers have.
Of course, whether or not the Lakers actually have enough talent to compete in the Western Conference is another question altogether. But regardless, the expectation among Los Angeles fans is that Redick needs to win with this group.
Additionally, James can opt out an become a free agent this offseason. While it would be no surprise for him to opt out of his player option and re-sign with the Lakers, especially now that his friend is coaching the team, it would be a shock if he opted to sign elsewhere.
Rumors have previously swirled suggesting that LeBron James will join any team that drafts his son Bronny James. Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent, recently did his best to shoot down those rumors.
“LeBron is off this idea of having to play with Bronny,” Paul said. “If he does, he does. But if he doesn’t, he doesn’t. There’s no deal made that it’s guaranteed that if the Lakers draft Bronny at 55, he (LeBron) will resign. If that was the case, I would force them to take him at 17. We don’t need leverage. The Lakers can draft Bronny, and LeBron doesn’t resign. LeBron is also not going to Phoenix for a minimum deal. We can squash that now.”
The Lakers are rumored to have interest in selecting Bronny in this month’s NBA Draft. That doesn’t mean that it’s guaranteed to happen. Nevertheless, Paul made it clear that LeBron could still re-sign with LA even if Bronny ends up going elsewhere. He said that James may also sign elsewhere even if the Lakers draft Bronny.
At the end of the day, one has to imagine that selecting Bronny James in the NBA Draft would help the team’s chances of landing LeBron, even if the future Hall of Famer’s chances of returning are not contingent upon it.
