LeBron James’ legacy is often defined by his career, his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his charity or his character. But it’s his child, LeBron James Jr., who the NBA world wants LeBron’s legacy to live on in.
LeBron James Jr., the firstborn son of Cleveland Cavaliers legend LeBron James and his wife Savannah Brinson, isn’t his father.
“Bronny”, a charismatic 13-year-old who will attend Sierra Canyon High School with the sons of other NBA icons, certainly has his fair share of similarities with LeBron.
He exudes confidence without speaking. To that point, he moves like a veteran in both a metaphorical and literal minefield of microphones.
You can often catch him, like his father, smiling. Though during a regular season the King often furrows his brows in contemplation or frustration, throughout the season and, particularly in the offseason, LeBron is constantly smiling.
He’s also receiving an extraordinary amount of national attention and has been for years. In part, the cameras that have followed his Blue Chip squad through the AAU circuit are a byproduct of the digital age and an insatiable appetite for viral news.
Yet, the idea that Bronny could be anything like his father — arguably the greatest player of all-time — on the court has captivated the imaginations of the basketball world.
That’s ultimately the biggest reason the cameras follow him and will continue to throughout what truly seems to be a realistic path to the NBA.
That’s why clips of Bronny’s passing and court vision are often circulated worldwide, going viral.
They’re hallmarks of his father’s game.
Him dunking at 13-years-old, just finishing his final year of middle school, adds fuel to the fire.
The first time LeBron dunked, he was in the eighth grade and about the same age as Bronny.
Make no mistake about though, Bronny is his own player.
He’s already a more technically sound jump shooter and ball-handler than his father was at the same age, according to LeBron (per cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor):
"“I didn’t handle the ball as well as he does,” James said about his son. “He handles the ball exceptionally and he shoots it a lot better than I did at that age, but I’ve always had the ability to pass the ball. It’s good to see him doing it as well.”"
MIX THEM BRONNY 🎒 pic.twitter.com/riSKvxbfuw
— Overtime (@overtime) July 26, 2018
MARKSMAN 🎯
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) July 29, 2018
Bronny James was on 🔥 for Quavo as he led the Blue Chips to the Final Four 🏆 @SLAM_HS pic.twitter.com/kggvmB1Yb8
(Yes, Migos rapper Quavo showed up styling and profiling to watch Bronny.)
He’s also a lot shorter than his father was, who was 6-foot-3 by the end of his freshman year at St. Vincent – St. Mary’s High School. Bronny is nearly 5-foot-10 and will have his first day of school soon.
That said, looking at the growth spurts of other LeBron and NBA players could help determine what position Bronny would play in the NBA.
For this exercise, I also added a player who had his own hype train in high school, Zion Williamson.
Duke University forward Zion Williamson (3 inches):
6-foot-3 as a high school freshman, 6-foot-6 in college
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (5 inches):
5-foot-10 as a high school freshman, 6-foot-3 in NBA
New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis (8 inches):
6-foot-2 as a high school freshman, 6-foot-10 in NBA
Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul (11 inches):
5-foot-1 as a high school freshman, 6-foot-0 in the NBA
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (5 inches):
6-foot-3 by end of freshman year, 6-foot-8 in NBA
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Growth Spurt Projection:
Sierra Canyon High School guard LeBron James Jr. (3 – 11 inch growth spurt range):
~5-foot-10 as a high school freshman, ~6-foot-1 to ~6-foot-9 in the NBA
—or—
(6.4 inch growth spurt average):
~5-foot-10 as a high school freshman, ~6–foot-4 in the NBA
Given that he’s LeBron’s progeny, his father’s growth spurt could be best for predicting how tall he’ll be and thus which position he’ll play, in the NBA.
Doing the quick math, a 5-inch growth spurt like LeBron’s would put Bronny at around 6-foot-3 in the league. A combo guard.
There’s a chance that he could be taller than that but the chances that he’d be any taller than a backcourt player (6-foot-7 is a standard height for a small forward) is unlikely. That said, his game is that of a backcourt player’s so that’s perfectly fine.
Looking at Bronny realistically, he seems to be similar to — in terms of his height — of an athlete like Michael Jordan.
Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan (7 inches): ~5-foot-11 as a high school sophomore, 6-foot-6 in the NBA
Who knows if Bronny will jump out of the gym like Jordan one day, though he’s already throwing pregame oops to himself at 13-years-old which is impressive.
However, with Bronny being nearly 5-foot-10, it’s feasible for him to grow a couple of inches as a freshman and then have a Jordan-like growth spurt that brings him to around 6-foot-6.
Will he make it to the NBA?
People would love to tell you that it’s too early to tell but that’s an easy cop-out; nobody knows what will happen in the next five years whether you’re talking Bronny, your own life or politics.
I’ll give you an answer though.
Bronny’s chances of making it in the NBA aren’t set in stone but he has a pretty good chance. That he’s already receiving verbal offers from powerhouse programs like Duke University is a good sign of that.
His basketball IQ and guard skills are advanced for his age. Should he have a nice growth spurt while hitting the gym to fill his body out and enhance his muscle strength, he’ll have the size needed to be in the league.
However, as Bronny has probably already realized, his biggest obstacles to making it to the NBA isn’t talent or size, it’s the hype train behind him.
He’s captivated America since he was a preteen and now he lives in Los Angeles with the stars while playing basketball with their sons. He’s already drawing crowds so big that security offers have had to shut down sold-out games for security concerns. He’s had verbal offers from college basketball programs since 2015.
His father is LeBron, the most polarizing athlete in the NBA if not the entire world.
When you’re 13-years-old and hearing chants of “Overrated!”, that’s not natural; that’s the effect of having an extraordinary amount of hype as a middle school player while being the son of a global icon.
Bronny will deal with that for the rest of his days as a basketball player if he chooses to pursue the NBA.
LeBron, even at 33-years-old, still hears people say he’s overrated. Even if he hopes to hit the Jordan level of being beloved, at 55-years-old the immortalized Jordan is being called overrated.
Hate follows hype. It’s inevitable.
However, hate also follows greatness.
Should he become great, or show at any point in the next few years that he could be great, then both the hate and the hype will grow.
That’s inevitable as well. Especially as the son of LeBron.