Bronny James, the 19-year-old son of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, was selected 55th overall by the Lakers in Thursday’s second round of the NBA Draft, setting up the first father-son combination in NBA history.
It is a dream come true for four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James, who said for years he dreamed of playing alongside his son.
“In the history of the NBA, there has never been a father and a son that have shared an NBA basketball court,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. “That feels like something that could be magical.”
Photo: AFP
LeBron, a 39-year-old Lakers playmaker and four-time NBA champion, will be busy on the US team at the Paris Olympics next month while son Bronny is set to join the Lakers in NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas.
LeBron James posted photos on Instagram with the one-word caption “LEGACY!!!!!!” and images of himself with Bronny as a child, of both of them dunking and another with father and son side-by-side in Lakers jerseys.
Bronny James, a guard for the University of Southern California (USC), averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Trojans last season after a stellar high-school career and also impressed scouts at an NBA combine.
At a practice session in July last year, USC freshman Bronny James collapsed after suffering cardiac arrest caused by a congenital heart defect.
The teenager was released from the hospital a few days later and doctors approved him playing both in US college basketball and, last month, in the NBA.
“Congratulations to Bronny James on being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers!” Lakers legend Magic Johnson said. “This is a historic moment... Watching Bronny suit up for the @Lakers during Summer League in Vegas will be must-see TV!”
The younger James is seen as a top defensive prospect with elite athletic skills and strong instincts for the game, but might need time to develop fully as an NBA player.
“We’re excited to see this story unfold,” said Pelinka, who said new Lakers coach J.J. Redick is already planning how to make Bronny better.
“It’s an honor for us to add him to our program,” Pelinka said. “Coach Redick is already excited about putting a development plan around him to increase his basketball skills and turn him into a player we think can impact and help this franchise.”
LeBron James had until today to opt into the final year of his Lakers contract or become a free agent, which could set up a new Lakers deal. The status gave him options should Bronny James have ended up elsewhere in the NBA.
“We know and have to respect that LeBron has a decision about his opt out and I’m sure he and his family will decide what they are going to do there,” Pelinka said. “If it worked out that he was on our team next season, history could be made — and NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform.”
The Lakers owned the fourth-to-last NBA Draft selection and there was concern other clubs might use a higher pick on Bronny James, to see if they could swing a trade deal with the Lakers for Bronny James or the pick.
ESPN reported agent Rich Paul warned clubs against picking Bronny James, saying he would go to Australia before dealing with some teams.
The Phoenix Suns, who did not own a second-round pick due to a free agency tampering violation, were the only team other than the Lakers to have a workout with Bronny James ahead of the draft.
Pelinka said character and work ethic were more important factors than ancestry for the Lakers.
“Bronny is first and foremost a person of high character and second he’s a young man that works incredibly hard and those are the qualities we look for in drafting players and adding to our developmental core of the Lakers,” Pelinka said.
“In terms of his work ethic, I think we’ve all seen that lived out too. He’s not a person that has ever taken short cuts, or expected or been entitled about basketball opportunities. He has worked for everything he has gotten, including being selected today at 55,” Pelinka added.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
RSS