LeBron James is intent on playing professional basketball with his son, Bronny James, no matter what.
In an interview with The Athletic published on Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers star, 37, made it clear that he plans to team up with his 17-year-old son before he officially retires from the NBA.
“My last year will be played with my son,” LeBron told the outlet. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”
LeBron, who is currently playing in his 19th NBA season, has four titles under his belt: two with the Miami Heat, one with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and one with the Lakers.
The pro athlete also said that “the door’s not closed” on a possible return to the Cavaliers, where he won his third NBA title in 2016.
“I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing, I don’t know,” he told The Athletic when asked. “I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”
LeBron spent seven seasons with Cleveland before announcing his decision to “take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat” in 2010. Teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he helped lead the Heat to back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013, before returning to the Cavaliers in 2014.
In 2018, two years after helping Cleveland win its first-ever NBA championship, LeBron opted out of his contract with the Cavs. He joined the Los Angeles Lakers that same summer and, one year later, won his fourth title defeating the Heat.
LeBron was about to begin in his second NBA season when his now-wife, Savannah James, gave birth to Bronny, their eldest child.
Bronny is currently enrolled at the Sierra Canyon School in Los Angeles. The junior point guard is the 52nd ranked prospect as of November after being ranked 27th that August, according to 247Sports.com.
Previously, Bronny has expressed interest in playing for five schools, per 247Sports.com and ESPN: Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and UCLA. So far, Kentucky is the only school to have offered him a scholarship.
Bronny will be draft-eligible in two years under the NBA’s current rules, which require incoming players to be at least 19 years old and at least one year removed from graduating high school.
However, NBA commissioner Adam Silver indicated in May 2019 that he believed the “one and done” policy was no longer effective, according to The Washington Post. But ending the policy, he said, could not be done overnight.
“There are a bunch of issues that need to be worked through between us and the players association, so it’s something we’re in active discussions about,” Silver said at an event in Washington, per the Post, adding “It’s a few years away, I think.”
At the time, Silver suggested the 2022 draft as a possible target for allowing high school players to skip the extra step between graduation and entering the NBA, the Post reported. However, the league has shown little movement on the issue publicly in recent months.
