After the Los Angeles Lakers drafted USC's Bronny James on June 27, the spotlight on the James family has shone even brighter.
LeBron James might be the NBA's leading scorer of all time but when he's not on the court, the basketball great and Lakers forward is also a proud father of three children, whom he shares with his wife Savannah James.
The Akron, Ohio, native has said he takes fatherhood seriously, having grown up without his own dad being present in his life, and prioritizes being present with his kids.
And although two of his kids – both of his sons – have followed him onto the basketball court, the elder James said he doesn't pressure them to play the team sport.
"I've always let them just see if they had a love for [basketball]. Because, at the end of the day, nothing is going to come to fruition if you're just doing it because you feel like it's what your parents are doing. Nah, it's going to fizzle out too fast," James told "Sports Illustrated" in a 2022 cover interview with his sons.
When asked about the pressure he feels following his dad's legendary footsteps into professional basketball, James' eldest son, Bronny James, said his decision to join the NBA draft wasn't heavily influenced by what his dad does.
"I just want to come in and get my work in and get better every day. I never really had a thought of me going to play with my dad. But that’s always there to take part of, but it wasn’t a main focus of mine," Bronny James said in a July 2 press conference.
The younger James also said although he has noticed an "amplified" amount of pressure around him, with the potential of him playing with his father on the same Lakers team, he isn't fazed by the extra attention.
"I’ve been dealing with stuff like this for my whole life. It’s nothing different. It’s more amplified for sure, but I can get through it,” Bronny James added.
Get to know the James family below.
Savannah James
LeBron James and Savannah James first met and started dating as teenagers in Akron, when he was a St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball star and she was a softball player for Buchtel High School.
The couple welcomed their first child in 2004 and their second in 2007 before they married in 2013. Their third child, their only daughter, was born in 2014.
Bronny James
The James' eldest child, LeBron Raymone "Bronny" James Jr., is named after his famous father. In an episode of the talk show "The Shop: Uninterrupted," the Lakers star revealed it was his son who changed his first name to Bronny and is determined to make a name for himself.
LeBron James also said he wants to play against his firstborn in the NBA and after Bronny James was selected by the Lakers on June 27 in the second round of the NBA draft, the two James men could make history as the first father-son duo to compete in the NBA together.
Bronny James wrapped his freshman season as a guard for the University of Southern California Trojans and according to his official college athletics biography, he also likes to play video games, go snowboarding and play the piano and violin, when he's not on the court.
In July 2023, Bronny James was hospitalized after suffering a cardiac arrest while at a USC basketball practice session. He was later discharged and a family spokesperson revealed the rising basketball star's health scare was likely due to a congenital heart defect.
Bryce James
Like his father and older brother before him, Bryce Maximus James, the second of the James kids, is a basketball player. The 11th grader currently plays for the boys' basketball team at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California, the same team his brother Bronny played for and which their father sponsors.
In the 2022 "Sports Illustrated" interview, James expressed hope about playing professionally with both of his sons in the future.
"I feel like I could play for quite a while. So it's all up to my body, but more importantly, my mind," James said at the time. "If my mind can stay sharp and fresh and motivated, then the sky's not even a limit for me. I can go beyond that. But we shall see."
Zhuri Nova James
Zhuri is the youngest of the James children and was born in 2014.
James celebrated his daughter's birthday in an October tribute post, calling her his "princess."
"Happy Bday My Princess 👸🏾 Z!! Love you ♾️ and more!!!" the doting dad wrote in the caption.
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