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Lebron James Opens Up About Son Bronny’s Cardiac Arrest On Pat McAfee Show

Former USC Trojans and current Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James dropped a G-League career high 39 points on Monday night. Bronny's father, LeBron James, went on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and talked about Bronny's perseverance through a turbulent couple years.

Cory Pappas

Jan 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) interacts with son Bronny James during the game against the Boston Celtics at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jan 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) interacts with son Bronny James during the game against the Boston Celtics at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Former USC Trojans and current Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James is coming off a career high 39 points in the G-League game for the South Bay Lakers earlier this week. 

Bronny’s father, Lakers superstar LeBron James, went on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday morning to talk about Bronny’s development as a professional basketball player and how he’s battled through adversity. Bronny and LeBron became the first ever father-son duo to play in an NBA game when the two took the floor on opening night this season.

LeBron James Proud Of Bronny As A Dad and A Teammate  

Feb 20, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates victory over the Portland Trail
Feb 20, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates victory over the Portland Trail Blazers with his son guard Bronny James (9) at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Bronny James was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft last June. There have been many skeptics about the pick, and Bronny has had to deal with that in his career thus far. LeBron couldn’t be more proud for the way Bronny has handled everything at just 20 years old. 

“For me as a dad, I’m super proud of him period, as a man,” Lebron said. “For me as a mentor and as a teammate of his and that wants to se him thrive because I’ve seen the work he’s put into the game, I am super proud of his development to where he is now.”

It wasn’t an easy start to Bonny’s professional career. He has had very limited player time in the NBA, but has been getting more run in the G-League and is taking advantage of that. 

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Bronny James’s Perseverance After Cardiac Arrest

Mar 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) looks to pass against Milwaukee Bucks g
Mar 20, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) looks to pass against Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins (13) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Bronny had a scare less than two years ago as he was getting ready for his freshman season with the USC Trojans. He suffered a cardiac arrest and playing basketball in the future was a complete unknown. Luckily, he was able to be cleared midway through the Trojans season to play again. For a college kid to go through that and persevere in such a short period of time shows his incredible determination.  

“I had a good friend of mine who war through a Cardiac arrest as well. He told me it ‘it took me about two and a half years to get back to normalcy; my body, my mind,” LeBron said. “(Bronny) is doing things right now, less than two years. It’s because of his determination and his will to want to get better and his will to ‘I don’t care what ya’ll saying. I hear it.’”

LeBron says that Bronny has heard all of the outside noise about him not belonging in the NBA, he simply just doesn’t let it bother him. For Bronny, he’s grown up in a world where his father gets criticized everyday for countless reasons. As a famous athlete, that’s something you just have to get used to, fair or not. 

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Cory Pappas
CORY PAPPAS

Cory Pappas is sports writer for USC Trojans On SI and Oregon Ducks On SI. Since starting in March of 2024, he has been writing breaking news stories, game previews, game recaps, and more across College Sports, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Olympics for Total Apex Sports. In addition to writing, Cory is also a sports data scout for Sportradar. He covers live sporting events ranging from college athletics to semi-pro and professional. Before joining the industry, Cory graduated from the University of Oregon in 2022. He ran track for Oregon's club Track and Field team. Before Oregon, he played varsity basketball and track and field in high school in Walnut Creek, CA. Cory is using his lifelong passion for sports and writing together.

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