Bronny James and his camp did everything in their power to ensure that he would land with the Los Angeles Lakers. During ESPN’s broadcast of the second round of the NBA Draft in June, Bob Meyers reported that agent Rich Paul told other teams that Bronny would play in Australia if they picked him. The plan all along, it seems, was to partner Bronny with his more famous father, LeBron James, as the latter closes out his legendary career.
This plan was nearly derailed, though, by an old rival of the family. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the Golden State Warriors “weighed whether or not to take Bronny at No. 52.” They reportedly liked him and had him on their draft board, but ultimately elected to select Boston College big man Quentin Post. Part of the consideration, according to ESPN, was to “respect the wishes James had made clear and the Lakers signaled they would grant.”
Golden State’s exact motives in considering James may not have been entirely based on his own value as a prospect. The Warriors attempted to trade for the elder James at the 2024 deadline, but James himself indicated that he preferred not to move. Golden State went on to try and fail to land Paul George and Lauri Markkanen in blockbuster trades this summer. They may be planning a future pursuit of James, either as a free agent or through trade, and did not want to risk incurring his wrath by preventing a Los Angeles union. Shelburne hints at this possibility in her reporting.
Of course, it’s also worth noting that James fits the typical profile of Warriors draft picks regardless of his famous last name. James was considered a first-round prospect before a cardiac arrest incident led to a disappointing season at USC. His draft stock tumbled from there, but the Warriors have a history of drafting highly recruited players whose stock slipped during the draft process. Patrick Baldwin Jr. was a top-10 recruit at virtually every major ranking service, but Golden State eagerly scooped him up at No. 28 overall in 2021, for example. Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman were higher picks, but both fit the bill of drafting for athletic potential as much as proven track record. In James, the Warriors easily could have seen a prospect who was undervalued off of a single, poor season rather than an overall body of work at the amateur level.
Either way, the Warriors opted not to select James. While the story of father and son uniting in Los Angeles certainly fits the Lakers and their Hollywood image, the idea of the Warriors revitalizing their rivalry with James by selecting his son would have been just as tantalizing. It’s a fun hypothetical, but just as the Warriors failed to land the father in February, they didn’t reel in the son in June either.
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