Bronny James’s first, and potentially, only season in college basketball is officially in the books.
James’s USC Trojans concluded their disappointing season with a whimper, a 70–49 blowout loss to the Arizona Wildcats to finish the season 15–18. James played 22 minutes, scoring three points on 1 of 5 shooting.
For years, LeBron James’s first-born son has been placed on an accelerated path to the NBA, with the elder James speaking openly about wanting to play with Bronny before his career ended. That timeline was put on hold rather abruptly over the summer, when Bronny James went into cardiac arrest during a team workout in late July. He was rushed to the hospital, where he spent three days and underwent a procedure for a congenital heart defect. That started a return-to-play process that took over four months before he was eventually cleared to return to basketball in late November. He made his debut on Dec. 10 against the Long Beach State Beach and settled in as a bench guard for the season’s final three months, but was always playing catchup after missing such extensive practice time.
James’s freshman season at USC ended with a blowout loss to Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament.
Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports
After the cardiac incident and James was cleared to resume basketball activities, he faced months of disrupted time to acclimate to the college game and integrate with his teammates. James was also in what most observers consider a fairly poor context around him. USC’s backcourt featured two ball-dominant guards in Isaiah Collier and Boogie Ellis who never seemed to share the floor well together. Its bigs struggled immensely through much of the season, with transfer power forward DJ Rodman failing to live up to expectations and sophomore center Vince Iwuchukwu not having the breakout campaign some expected. Plus, the Trojans were beset by perhaps the worst injury luck in college basketball, which didn’t help efforts to build cohesion.
“Nobody knows their role,” one former college coach texted during Thursday’s season-ending loss. “Everyone thinks they’re the star.”
It also didn’t help that USC’s final six weeks (if not longer) were played with the knowledge the Trojans had no chance of making the NCAA tournament without winning the Pac-12 tournament. The group played like it at times, looking disinterested and unmotivated until a late-season push that included an upset over Arizona to close the regular season. This was a lost season by the time Feb. 1 hit, and that’s a difficult wall for any player to break through, let alone a freshman with limited practice time. One could easily argue that no USC player improved his draft stock this season, with the possible exception of wing Kobe Johnson, who at least established himself as an intriguing name in NBA circles.
Plus, it’s worth remembering that most freshmen don’t make substantial impacts as freshmen anymore, especially in the age of the transfer portal. Only nine of the top 25 recruits in college basketball this season, per 247Sports, are averaging double-figure scoring. Without his name attached, Bronny James is just another promising recruit still finding his footing in the college game. Instead, he’s been pressed into a spotlight that was never fair and handled it, by all accounts, with maturity and class.
“Bronny’s a typical freshman,” coach Andy Enfield said postgame. “He went through a lot this year, physically and mentally. He has never wavered from being a great teammate and working extremely hard in practice. You can count on him as an individual … We love coaching him, he’s a typical freshman and he has learned a lot and grown a lot this year, and he’ll keep improving.”
Perhaps the good news for James: The fanfare associated with being Bronny has quieted down some. Will it ever be normal? Of course not. But his presence in Las Vegas this week wasn’t met with anywhere near the buzz of his first few games as a collegian.
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In Wednesday’s sparsely attended game vs. the Washington Huskies, there was little acknowledgement at all from the crowd in his 18 minutes of work. On Thursday, Bronny received a smattering of boos from a pro-Arizona crowd the first time he checked in the game and another after drilling a late-game three, but otherwise was largely just another Trojan as Arizona pulled away.
If he were to return to USC next season, maybe some of the pressure that has come with his yearslong fast track to the NBA dissipates. Even if not, he’s all but guaranteed to look a lot better after a full summer and fall of college practices after getting his initial taste of the college game.
Regardless of the narratives attached, there’s a skill set there that may well have NBA value down the line. James’s explosiveness off the floor is rare for a guard and watching him sky for rebounds is reminiscent of a shorter version of father. He’s a cerebral player, a willing passer who at times is probably too unselfish. He shot just 27% from three this season, but his stroke from beyond the arc looks promising. He’s a very good on-ball defender and seems to take pride in that end of the floor. It’s just hard to feel confident at this point that he’s ready to bring those skills to the NBA next season, and it likely wouldn’t be a serious conversation without his last name being attached.
For what it’s worth, LeBron James has tempered expectations about Bronny’s one-and-done prospects of late. In mid-February, he told reporters Bronny’s stay-or-go decision was “up to him,” with Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul adding in an interview with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the decision would be more about team interest, rather than a specific draft landing position.
“LeBron wants Bronny to be his own man,” Paul said, adding though that the Los Angeles Lakers star would be “head over heels excited” to play with his son.
If this was it for Bronny James in college basketball, it was a quiet conclusion. But regardless of his next basketball move, the spotlight on the King’s son seems unlikely to dim.
