Bronny James vs Jared McCain in high school: Video highlights
Bronny James to the Lakers? Jared McCain to the lottery?
These are a couple of the million questions circling around the 2024 NBA Draft, which starts Wednesday, June 26 and runs through Thursday, June 27.
But James and McCain are just over a year removed from playing against each other in the 2023 California high school basketball playoffs.
Before James went on to the USC Trojans and McCain to the Duke Blue Devils, the latter got the better of the former in the Southern Section Open Division playoffs.
McCain's Corona Centennial Huskies beat James' Sierra Canyon Trailblazers 68-63 in the opening game of Pool A play in February 2023.
James scored the first seven points of the game for the Trailblazers but finished with just 13.
McCain countered with a game-high 22 points to lead his Huskies to the win.
Check out highlights from the game below, including James' early flurry and several excellent McCain passes:
Mock drafts for the most part have McCain getting picked toward the end of the lottery or just outside it, rarely falling below No. 15 in the first round.
James, on the other hand, lands most frequently with dad LeBron James and the Lakers in the second round at pick No. 55.
Bronny James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game as a freshman playing for the USC Trojans.
Despite those low numbers, NBA scouts were impressed by his performance at the draft combine in May, leaving him in solid position to become the latest father-son pairing to play together on the same NBA team.
McCain averaged 14.3 points and five rebounds per game in his lone season with Duke, leading the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight and playing his best basketball of the year in the NCAA Tournament.
He became the first Duke freshman to score 30 or more points twice in a single NCAA Tournament, including 32 in the Blue Devils' Elite Eight loss to NC State.
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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports
MIKE SWANSON, SBLIVE SPORTS
Mike Swanson is the Trending News Editor for SBLive Sports. He's been in journalism since 2003, having worked as a reporter, city editor, copy editor and high school sports editor in California, Connecticut and Oregon.