Bronny James has big shoes to fill for both his name and number.
The heir apparent to his future Hall of Fame father, LeBron James, had his number revealed for his new NBA team, the Lakers, which selected him at No. 55 overall in the NBA draft this week.
Bronny will wear No. 9, a number that has been worn by other players who donned the purple and gold, including Nick Van Exel, Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo, among many others.
Van Exel expressed his excitement, which, in turn, made LeBron pumped.
“That’s so TOUGH!! Nick the Quick was SO COLD!!!!!” he said of Van Exel.
James was drafted to his father’s Los Angeles squad, where LeBron has played since signing in the 2018 offseason.
The elder James is scheduled to make $51 million if he opts into his player option by Saturday, but is reportedly likely to extend with the Lakers for a multi-year agreement for more security.
season. NBAE via Getty Images
LeBron, who just completed his 21st NBA season, will turn 40 in December.
The James duo joins a list of NBA father-son tandems, like Rick and Brent Barry, Dell and Steph and Seth Curry, and the Tim Hardaway Sr. and and Tim Hardaway Jr.
However, LeBron and Bronny are the first to become teammates.
The younger James was a high-profile high school recruit who was a McDonald’s All-American as a senior.
In his lone season at USC, in which he played after suffering cardiac arrest before the season, the 6-foot-2 combo guard averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
He shot just 36.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from 3-point land, but James has been noted for his defense, which is viewed as his NBA calling card, if he in fact has one.
