At 39 years old, LeBron James is nearing the end of his illustrious NBA career. Regardless of whether wins another championship with the Los Angeles Lakers or receives any kind of honor, James will forever go down as one of the greatest players to have ever stepped foot in the league. However, the 20-time All-Star still has one more accomplishment he would like to achieve before calling it quits: to play alongside his son, Bronny James, in the NBA.
The notion of LeBron wanting to team up with Bronny has led to a lot of speculation regarding James’ future with the Lakers. The organization’s overall lack of success since their 2020 championship has also played a factor in his status past the 2023-24 season remaining unclear. Although he owns a $51.4 million player option for next season, the idea of James opting out and becoming a free agent is very real. The Lakers, who envision LeBron dawning their purple and gold until the day he retires, are not wanting this to occur. Hence, Bronny could be their path to keeping the league’s all-time leading scorer.
In attempts to keep LeBron from entertaining the idea of leaving in the offseason, the Lakers are beginning to explore the idea of adding Bronny next season should he declare for the 2024 NBA Draft, according to The Athletic.
As things pertain to the draft, there is no certainty that the Lakers will even own their first-round pick. The New Orleans Pelicans own the rights to obtain either Los Angeles’ 2024 or 2025 first-round pick stemming from the Anthony Davis trade in 2019. If the Pelicans were to choose the pick in 2024, this would leave the Lakers with only two second-round picks. Whether or not these picks would allow Los Angeles to opportunity to pursue LeBron’s son is unclear.
The fact of the matter is that the Lakers do not want LeBron to leave in the offseason. As a result, making him happy and pursuing his son may ultimately lead to two Lakers jerseys with the name “James” on the back of them. Only time will tell if Bronny will truly remain in Los Angeles to team up with LeBron, a dream the two have held for years.
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