EL SEGUNDO \u2014 LeBron James Jr.\u2019s world looked a little different last week.<\/p>\n
LeBron James wasn\u2019t in the room at Lakers media day.<\/p>\n
Bronny paused, collecting his thoughts when a reporter posed the question on the minds of onlookers at the team\u2019s practice facility or watching live online.<\/p>\n
\u201cUmmmm,\u201d the 21-year-old said as he threw his right arm in the air as if to say, \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d while he held the microphone inches from his mouth, delaying an inevitable response.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeels like,\u201d James said, \u201cfeels like he\u2019s not here.\u201d<\/p>\n
James continued: \u201cThat\u2019s my dad. It\u2019s been 22 years almost living with him. Just another experience that I\u2019m gonna be a part of and excited to see how it\u2019s going to feel during the season too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next \u2013 and first \u2013 time father and son will play against one another will be Christmas Day at Crypto.com Arena when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>. Bronny James said there wasn\u2019t much conversation with his father over his decision to leave the Lakers after eight seasons<\/a> and head east, where he will potentially conclude his career.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re men of very little words when it comes to talking about business and what we\u2019re going to do and how we feel about each other, so there wasn\u2019t really much (conversation) to be honest with you,\u201d James said. \u201cHe\u2019s got his own path and I got my own<\/a>. So he knows that I want to make a name for myself and continue my career and keep growing as a player. And he knows that I want to focus on that.\u201d<\/p>\n When James entered the league there was a clear disdain from some in the basketball community as to why the undersized 3-and-D guard was selected as the Lakers\u2019 second-round pick in the 2024 NBA draft.<\/p>\n As a bench role player for USC during his freshman season, James averaged 4.8 points per game in 19.3 minutes after recovering from cardiac arrest \u2013 caused by a congenital heart defect \u2013 during a preseason practice in June 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n Naysayers believed two things: James\u2019 opportunity with the Lakers came from his father\u2019s status as arguably the greatest basketball player of all time \u2013 and that he wasn\u2019t talented enough to make the step from the college game to the NBA.<\/p>\n He made his NBA debut at the first opportunity, making history as the first father-son duo to play in the same game together in the 2024-25 season opener. Over the next two years, they shared the court on occasion as Bronny James spent most of his first two NBA seasons splitting time between the Lakers and the G League\u2019s South Bay Lakers.<\/p>\n Last season, as the Lakers struggled through late-season injury woes, James stepped up out of necessity.<\/a><\/p>\n