Bronny James ready to face ‘amplified’ pressure of playing with dad LeBron

• LeBron and Bronny James are set to make history by becoming the first father-son duo to actively play together in the NBA on the same team.
• “I’ve been through this stuff my whole life. This is no different. It’s more amplified, for sure, but I can handle it,” Bronny said of the pressure during a press conference on Tuesday, July 2.
  
• “I never really thought about playing with my dad… it wasn’t one of my main goals,” the 19-year-old insisted of playing alongside his famous father.

Bronny James is ready to face the pressure of playing alongside his famous father on the Los Angeles Lakers.

During a press conference on Tuesday, July 2, Bronny, 19, insisted that he did not enter the NBA draft simply so he could play alongside his father LeBron, 39, who signed with the Lakers in 2018.

“I’m trying to get my name out there,” Bronny told reporters after being selected by the team in the second round of the draft on June 27, according to the Associated Press.

“I just want to come to work and get better every day. I never really thought about playing with my dad,” he added, according to AP. “It’s always there for me, but it wasn’t my main goal.”

When they step on the court together, Bronny and LeBron will make history as the first father-son duo to actively play together on the same NBA team. The pressure of making history doesn’t seem to faze the teenager, though.

“It certainly added to the pressure,” he said at the conference. “I’ve seen it before in (social) media and on the Internet and other outlets saying maybe I don’t deserve an opportunity.”

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“But I’ve dealt with this stuff my whole life. This is no different. It’s more amplified, for sure, but I can handle it,” Bronny insisted.

He added that he was ready to play for such a big team because of “what (LeBron) has told me my whole life. Just having that work ethic, coming in and working, listening to your coaches and being coachable, things like that, he’s ingrained it in my head my whole life.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Bronny mentioned the time off he took last year after suffering a cardiac arrest during basketball practice at the University of Southern California in July 2023, as PEOPLE previously reported.

In May, it was revealed that Bronny, who had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, had been cleared by the NBA’s Fitness to Play Panel just in time for the NBA Draft Combine.

“In the time I had away from school, I could have improved my game,” he said at the conference. “I feel like I was given an opportunity to really show what I can do because I didn’t get a lot of opportunities at SC. So I’m excited to see what it’s going to be like.”

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Despite Bronny’s comments, his father LeBron has openly stated in the past that he wants to play with his son.

“I need to be on the field with my boy, I need to be on the field with Bronny,” he said after the 2023 season.

“Either in the same uniform or in a confrontation against him,” he added.

After Bronny was selected by his team late last month, LeBron shared his excitement on social media.

The NBA veteran shared a photo of Bronny wearing a Lakers jersey on Instagram, along with a close-up of his future jersey, which read “James Jr.”

“NO WORDS!! 🤴🏾,” he wrote alongside the photos.