History was made when LeBron and Bronny James Jr. became the first father and son to play in the NBA.
This historic moment occurred during the Los Angeles Lakers’ season-opening victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Before this remarkable feat, Bronny had a near-death encounter during a workout at the University of Southern California, where he was spending his freshman year before declaring for the 2024 NBA Draft.
Bronny James opened up about his near-death experience at USC, with the 19-year-old admitting he’s still not fully recovered.
Reflecting on how the scare altered his life, Bronny shared that things are far from normal.
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“My days aren’t normal anymore. I still feel like I’m getting back; I’m getting back to where I was,” Bronny admitted.
Bronny James Jr. graced his first-ever cover shoot as the latest face of Men’s Health magazine, where he spoke candidly about his life-changing cardiac arrest in July 2023.
He revealed that it was caused by a congenital heart defect and happened on what seemed like a regular day during a running drill.
He described the experience as a sudden blackout, leaving him uncertain of the consequences at the moment.
“At the point when it happened, there were a whole bunch of categories that what had happened could fall under, so yeah,” Bronny explained. “There were a whole lot of emotions.”
Despite the chaos, the 20-year-old noted how the scare became a wake-up call for him to take his health more seriously.
He shared that the incident pushed him to adopt a more disciplined routine.
“I got real on top of my routines to get back to where I was. I had to do breathing exercises and stuff. It was a total reset. I have to stay on top of my heart medications.”
Bronny isn’t the only family member who has opened up about the incident.
His father, LeBron James, spoke about how deeply the health scare affected their family. In the new Netflix docuseries, Starting 5.
The NBA star recalled how Bronny’s sole focus after the incident was returning to basketball.
LeBron also expressed pride in seeing Bronny take major steps in his life, saying,
“I love that. Bronny’s the first person in the family to go to college. I love seeing him playing the game he loves and to see where he is as a young man. You’re like, wow, it could have been, you know, so much worse for our family.”
