LeBron James Jr. is a four-star player with a name that is sure to give him opportunities now and in the future. As of right now, people are wondering where the younger James might end up for college.
The Athletic recently had conversations with different head coaches around the country, and the majority of them agree that he is good enough to take his talents to any top school, but he is not a generational talent like his father was and continues to be. It might take him a lot more work for him to set into the NBA.
Via The Athletic:
“The expectation doesn’t match the talent level, or at least not yet,’’ one coach says. “And that’s where it gets messy.’’
“Coaches and scouts who have actually evaluated — and not simply gawked at — his gam,e like his athleticism and how he gets downhill; they say he’s got a good enough shot that he could play either point guard or shooting guard in college.
To a man, they cite his high basketball IQ as a strength. “Plays the game the right way’’ comes up more than once when evaluators are asked about him. He makes the right passes, the right reads and happily plays in the context of the game. For a basketball scion, he is an exceptionally good teammate.”
The anonymous coaches think it will take Bronny 2-3 years of elite college basketball play before he’s NBA ready and even then, he still might morph into an NBA-caliber player.
“Most coaches and scouts who spoke to The Athletic say Bronny might not be NBA-ready after two or even three years,”
“He might develop into an NBA player, but the consensus is that it will take time. They say he needs reps against other high-caliber players to succeed, to fail, to adjust, to grow.
“That was how Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Corey Kispert (Gonzaga), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Ochai Agbaji (Kansas) and many others got to the NBA, but they question whether that pathway would sit well with Bronny and his family.”
LeBron has stated earlier this year that the first season he gets to play with Bronny would be his last. “My last year will be played with my son,” James said. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be.
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Bronny James is currently a high school senior at Sierra Canyon School in California. If Bronny follows a traditional, one-and-done prospect path, the earliest he can play in the NBA is at the start of the 2024-25 season.
League commissioner Adam Silver said in 2019 that he plans on eliminating the one-and-done rule in the future. If Silver gets rid of the rule before Bronny graduates high school, LeBron and Bronny could play together as early as 2023.
Still, no matter when Bronny enters the NBA, expect him and LeBron to form a father-son duo wherever he gets drafted.
