Bronny James' rise from Sierra Canyon to Los Angeles Lakers (video)
From the moment Bronny James graced the high school hardwood, his basketball journey has been watched closely.
From Bronny's first varsity summer in 2019 to his final high school game as a senior in 2023 against Caleb Foster (now at Duke). From his commitment to USC to declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft and being selected No. 55 overall (2nd round) to the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday evening.
It appears Bronny will play with his father, LeBron James, this upcoming 2024-25 season. LeBron currently has a player option with the Lakers; however, it seems likely LeBron opt into the player option and sign an extension.
It will be the first father-son duo in NBA history.
James' prep career is one of the most documented journeys of any high school athlete in history. Since his freshman season, the program’s reputation combined with the star-studded last name created a circus of flashing lights, Youtube videos that garnered millions of views, and even a documentary on Amazon Prime called “Top Class”.
What a moment for LeBron James. Sees Bronny score a career high (15 points), get awarded MVP, and get the go-ahead steal and layup late in the game to help lift Sierra Canyon to a 59-56 win over LeBron’s alma mater St. Vincent-St. Mary. pic.twitter.com/Qu8WwgF4J0
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) December 15, 2019
At Sierra Canyon, Bronny played with Ziaire Williams, Brandon Boston Jr. and Amari Bailey -- all of whom are in the NBA now.
The Trailblazers traveled to multiple NBA arenas in Bronny's time including the Target Center in Minneapolis, the American Airlines Center in Fort Worth and Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Sierra Canyon also played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Bronny's freshman and senior seasons against LeBron's alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary.
All those games were attended by numbers that reached well over 10,000. Close to 14,000 showed up to Nationwide Arena when Bronny was a freshman in 2019.
Bronny's stats per season at Sierra Canyon:
- Freshman: 4.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists
- Sophomore: Out for most season due to injury/surgery (also covid); played just three games
- Junior: 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.9 steals
- Senior: 14.1 points; 5.5 rebounds; 2.4 assists; 1.7 steals
Bronny committed to USC on May 6 of 2023, selecting to don the cardinal and gold offer offers from Ohio State, Memphis and Oregon.
The 4-star guard suffered cardiac arrest in July of 2023 when he collapsed during a USC basketball practice. He would later make a full recovery and play in 25 games for the Trojans where he averaged 19.4 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game as a freshman under Andy Enfield.
His career-high was set at Oregon State when he scored 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
USC teammate Isaiah Collier was drafted in the first round Wednesday night by the Utah Jazz at No. 29 overall. Collier came to USC after being ranked the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class out of high school. He averaged 16.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 49% from the field.
JAMES, MCCAIN, JOHNSON, SIMPSON
James was not the only California high school prospect drafted this week.
Former Corona Centennial High standout Jared McCain (from Duke) was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 16 overall.
AJ Johnson, who played a year at Taft High in Woodland Hills, was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 23.
Many moons ago, AJ Johnson was at Woodland Hills Taft High in Southern California.
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) June 27, 2024
Just got drafted No. 23 overall to the Milwaukee Bucks.pic.twitter.com/EM6dKaw9Hc
KJ Simpson of Chaminade High in West Hills, Calif. was drafted to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 42.
TAREK FATTAL, SBLIVE SPORTS
Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.