Lakers' Bronny James Gets Deeply Honest on 'Mental Illness' Struggles Following Cardiac Arrest

One of the newest members of the Los Angeles Lakers opened up about his struggles.

Dec 8, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) handles the ball in the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Bronny James is one of the newest members of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was drafted in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. A big reason why he was drafted is because his dad, LeBron James, plays for the team. Bronny still needs some work to become a solid NBA player.

Part of that isn't his fault. James had an extremely tough start to his collegiate career. He played just one year at USC. Prior to the season starting, he suffered cardiac arrest, something that delayed his start to the year. It also affected his ability to improve his game in the summer before.

James wasn't able to fully get himself ready to be a star for the Trojans. Even so, he decided to leave USC after just a single season. That doesn't mean that things weren't hard for him mentally as well as physically. In fact, he recently opened up about the mental struggles he had to deal with following his cardiac scare.

While speaking to the Associated Press, he had this to say about how he's handled the incident in the past few months.

“I’ve become resilient over these past couple of years fighting through injuries, mental illness, stuff like that,” James said. “Just, you know, coming in and working every day and staying the course. I’m just showing up every day, trying to get better every day, trying to learn every day, and playing my game every day. And I feel like that’s what is getting me to have fun and enjoy this sport that I love every day.”

James has been able to get through some of those mental challenges to play well while he has been in the G-League. He has also been able to put things in perspective recently, realizing that basketball isn't the most important thing after almost dying on the court.

“My family, my parents, they are extremely thankful that I’m not only able to play basketball but also just walk around and speak to other people,” James said. “It’s a blessing to be able to play this sport that I love. There’s a chance I wasn’t going to be able to. So, I wake up and I’m thankful for that every day.”

It's good to see that James has been able to get through his mental challenges. His challenges won't stop now that he's a pro athlete. He has to prove that he can stay in the league.

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