Former NBA player and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins believes LeBron James’ dream of teaming up with his son Bronny in the NBA will come to fruition, but it may require patience and sacrifice.
Perkins emphasized the need for LeBron to be patient and willing to make sacrifices, potentially extending his NBA career to align with Bronny’s trajectory.
“I do,” Perkins said on NBA Today when asked if he thinks that Bronny will team up with LeBron. “But It do think Bron is going to have to be patient and he’s also going to have to sacrifice and if that means he’s going to have to extend his NBA career a little longer, so be it.”
While Perkins acknowledges Bronny’s promising career, he underscores the importance of allowing Bronny to carve his own path and not be pressured to emulate his father’s legacy prematurely.
“My thing is one I want to point out is that Bronny I think he’s going to have a hell of a career, but he’s not going to be his dad. And that’s okay. Let Bronny be Bronny,” Perkins continued.
“Do I think he needs to go back to school? Yes, I do. And when the time is right, let it happen naturally. We don’t want to force anything. Let’s not force it, this young, his livelihood or his development. so that he could go and pair up with LeBron or whatever narrative we trying to push or whatever want to see to be honest. Just let the young man breathe.”
Perkins encourages a measured approach to Bronny’s development, echoing Carmelo Anthony’s sentiments about not rushing his son’s journey to the professional level and allowing him to progress naturally.
“Carmelo Anthony had an interesting thing on his podcast where he talked about the relationship with his son and how he don’t let his son get too far ahead. He stays in the moment, he’s not going to hell him he’s going to be this,” he said.
“He was like, ‘No, you actually got to get to college first and then we going to worry about your freshman year of college and then your sophomore year, and then we’ll start to worry about the pros.’ And I think that’s the steps we all need to start looking at when it comes to Bronny.”
Bronny, currently navigating his freshman season with USC, is averaging 5.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in 20.2 minutes of play.
Despite Bronny’s absence from the 2024 NBA mock draft radar, the possibility remains open for him to declare this summer and pursue entry into the league for the 2024-25 season.
