No one can blame the basketball player for looking to the future. The Lakers didn't make a move at the deadline despite looking like a play-in team, and Anthony Davis is collecting worker's comp checks after severely injuring his ankle in the final game before the All-Star break.
James talked about his post-Lakers future in an interview with The Athletic. He was effusive in his praise of the team, but he was most focused on the prospect of playing with his son.
My last year will be with my son. I would play with my son for a year. It isn't about money at that point.
He is always on the move. He is always looking out for his people. He made a former teammate, Maverick Carter, his business manager. Rich Paul runs a sports agency. Thanks to James, they have become titans on their own accord. He is also putting himself and Bronny in a unique position. His declaration made Bronny even more of a made man.
We shouldn't be surprised that he is putting NBA GMs on notice. He has never been so clear about his future.
Bronny's ascent through the amateur basketball ranks has been a source of intrigue for the basketball public. The future we've envisioned for Bronny is just over the horizon, as a junior at Sierra Canyon High School. Since he was in elementary school, the fantasy of Bron and Bronny has been bubbling up in his imagination. Now, he can almost touch it. James and Williams were teammates at Sierra Canyon, and James faced Williams earlier in the season.
James told reporters in October that he was shaking his head when he looked at Ziaire a couple times. I had a moment for sure.
The cliff that aging superstars fall off of in their mid 30s is avoided by spending millions on their body and showing a constant commitment to keeping their body in shape. He will be 40 when Bronny can play in the NBA.
That is a whole different beast. It's not realistic to think that James will be an award winner in three years. At the rate he is going, he will reach a point where his presence can swing a Finals contender over the top. There is a chance that a franchise that wants to put fans in the stands like the Knicks or Kings will draft Bronny.
Despite his assurances about playing with Bronny, he has made control of his own future a central tenet of his playing career. It is unlikely he will let the team he plays for during his farewell tour be a decision of his own. The decision of how far he is willing to go to play with his son and how much teams are willing to reach to sign him will be a game of chicken.
The father and son are vastly different right now. He doesn't project as a one-and-done caliber player, he isn't going to approach the physically imposing size of King James, and he will be a 6-foot-2 combo guard at the next level.
The team that drafts Bronny will be a team that believes it can win now and that he is a Bat-Signal to the other team. One of the most complicated scenarios ever seen at the NBA level will be made more complicated by the vow that LeBron will make when he enters the draft.
He hasn't established himself as a top prospect past the collegiate level. He is a role player on Sierra Canyon. He will have to show some progress as a senior leader to keep his top-50 ranking. The likes of Alex Antetokounmpo and Zaire Wade are working their way through the bowels of the G-League after failing to impress as top 50 recruits. Bronny's career won't be following the path of Wade or Antetokounmpo.
There are two scenarios for the next two years. Either Bronny has a breakthrough during his senior year and goes on to shine at a blue-chip program as a freshman, or he settles into a more modest developmental league prospect at the end of an NBA bench.
The career of the most covered athletes in NBA history will end on this date. The finish line is where Bronny arrives. The time has begun.
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