LeBron James wants to play with his sons, Bronny and Bryce, in the NBA. Got a problem with that? KingJames opens up to Chris_Ballard33 about his grand plan in this month’s SI cover story
Bronny is respectful and looks his questioner in the eye; if he’s bucking for teenage independence, he’s awfully good at hiding it. He addresses direct questions succinctly. So: Yes, he’s sticking with hoops. “I was born into it, so I feel like the path was already chosen,” he says. “But my dad is cool enough to let me take whatever path I want if I wanted to not pursue basketball. But I think basketball is going to be my thing, for sure.
LeBron and Savannah make a point to do this. During a recent vacation to Turks and Caicos they sat around the table at night, discussing the state of the world and translating it to the boys’ circumstances. LeBron worries about daily challenges—like if his sons are ever pulled over on the road. “You can’t have any expectations just because you’re . . . LeBron’s son,” he says at St. V’s. He looks at Bronny. “You have to be even more cautious, because you just don’t know.
Actually, no. Turns out that came as a surprise to everyone. Bronny says he hadn’t heard about the idea until his dad said it publicly, though he deems it “pretty cool.” When I ask about details, he waves away the query. “I like to throw things out in the airwaves, but I’m not one to [say] what’s going to happen in the next two to three years. I am a visionary, but I’m also a guy that lives in the moment.”
And most of the morning, the stands are half full. By 1:30, however, the energy has shifted. Fans pack the bleachers, and a line of young men with high-tech cameras, hailing from hype sites likeand Overtime, materialize on the court as if framing a fashion runway, ready to upload footage within minutes. Then out come the Blue Chips, led by Bronny. Wearing his No. 0 jersey around his neck like a cape, he kicks off the layup line with a huge windmill dunk.
Indeed, over the course of the weekend Bronny rarely shows emotion other than a sly smile. Smooth and graceful, he finds the open man and explodes for vertical rebounds. He misses his first three three-pointers against the Canadian team but then heats up in the second half. He finishes a backdoor alley-oop with a two-handed dunk, then chases down an opposing guard, soaring up and spiking an attempted layup, a play unnerving in its similarity to one of his father’s iconic chase-down blocks.
Some famous sports parents address this burden by dissuading their kids from following in their footsteps; others try to manage each step of the way. And, really, who are any of us to say what is the right strategy? Parenting a teenager is hard enough without the world watching. There is no playbook. My daughters are 15 and 13, multisport athletes, and they are wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Most days, I’m just doing the best I can.
And what of those who say his comments about playing with Bronny place unfair expectations on his son? LeBron leans forward, animated. “I don’t give a s--- what nobody says. Our quest and our journey is not predicated on what everybody said. You going to have five people that love you out of 10. Then you have five people that hate you out of 10. That’s just the way of the land. No matter what you do.” He’s fired up now.
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