Bronny James’ entire future was put on hold nine months ago when he suffered a cardiac arrest and he’s spoken about the lingering fear of it happening again.
The 19-year-old is a long way from where he was last July and incredibly, played the majority of the season with the Trojans in his freshman year.
Speaking at his interview at the draft combine after being medically cleared by the NBA, the second youngest son of LeBron James told reporters his health problems are always at the back of his mind.
“It’s still lingering,” Bronny said. “My parents were a big factor of believing in me and giving me the love and affection that I needed at that time. I still think about everything that could happen but I just love the game so much it just overpowers everything.
“I was set back but that’s not an excuse. I’ve put in so many years of work and I don’t want anyone to think that because I had this issue that I’m lower than everyone else.”
After being in such a terrible situation, Bronny says the whole thing speaks to his level of perseverance in wanting to go pro.
“It was a tough time for sure but all this work I’ve put in, it’s just really built me into someone that will never give up and it paid off because I put the work into that situation and I’m back to where I want to be,” he said.
Of course, Bronny is different to everyone else at the combine because his dad is the NBA’s all-time greatest scorer.
But he made it clear that playing with LeBron isn’t his priority.
“No, never,” Bronny said when asked if his dream is to play in the league with his dad. “My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself, and get to the NBA, which is everyone’s end goal that’s here. I never thought about just playing with my dad, but of course, he’s brought it up a couple of times. But yeah, I don’t think about it much.”
The NBA prospect doesn’t think that an NBA team will draft him to get a chance at landing LeBron as well.
“Honestly, I feel like this is a serious business,” Bronny said. “I don’t think there would be a thought of, ‘I’m just drafting this kid because I’m going to get his dad.’ I don’t think a GM would really allow that. I think I’ve put in the work and if I get drafted it will be because of not only the player but also the person I am.”