LeBron James‘s firstborn child, Bronny, is getting ready to head to college. The 18-year-old recently announced that he will be attending the University of Southern California, or USC, where he will play basketball. Granted, it would have been a huge deal no matter what school the top basketball prospect chose, it’s an even bigger deal because, according to his famous father, he will be the first person in the family of the NBA’s leading scorer to go to college.
In a post-game press conference following the Lakers’ Game 3 win over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Western Conference semifinals, LeBron was asked what his son’s big announcement meant to him.
“First of all, congratulations to my son on his next journey and picking a great university, USC. I’m proud of him. This is an incredible thing,” he shared. “Unless it was one of my great-grandmothers or great-grandfathers who was way before my time, to my knowledge, this is the first one out of the James gang to go to college. Obviously his dad didn’t go to school, his mom didn’t go to college. I think my mom stepped on campus a little bit…but she had my little a– running around so she couldn’t do that. Nineteen years old, she couldn’t do that. I was three. So it’s very, very, very, very exciting, very humbling and a great moment for our family.”
Bronny broke the news of his school of choice on social media, via Instagram.
In addition to getting a major talent, with Bronny being the 19th top prospect in the ESPN 100 list of ballers for the class of 2023, LeBron says the university is getting an amazing young man to represent their basketball program.
“They’re going to be super surprised at how great of a kid he is, even though they’ve been recruiting him for a while,” he said.
This is a first stop for Bronny, who is looking to join the NBA like his dad. It’s believed he won’t stay more than a year at USC before attempting to enter the NBA draft. For LeBron, the goal has been to play in the league with his son before he steps away from the game. But he made clear in the post-game press conference that there’s no pressure on Bronny to make that happen.
“We’re going to support him whatever he decides to do,” LeBron said. “Because that’s my aspiration and my goal doesn’t mean it’s his. And I’m absolutely OK with that. My job is to support my son, whatever he wants to do.”
And the good news is, Bronny isn’t the only hope to make this dream come true. Bryce James, 15, is also making waves and received his first Division I basketball scholarship offer before the start of his sophomore year. No matter what happens though, the James kids (including little Zhuri!) are set to do great things.