Watch: LeBron James Makes NBA History After Return to Los Angeles Lakers
Bronny James is trying to keep his head in the game.
The NBA player recently reflected on his rookie season, sharing that he knew nepotism would be a recurring conversation in his career as LeBron James‘ son. Despite being prepared for what was to come, it wasn’t necessarily any easier.
“My first thought about everything is I always try to just let it go through one ear and out the other, put my head down and come to work and be positive every day,” Bronny told The Athletic in an interview published March 20. “But sometimes it just, it fuels me a little bit. I see everything that people are saying, and people think, like, I’m a f–king robot, like I don’t have any feelings or emotions.”
Nonetheless, the 20-year-old—who splits his time between the Los Angeles Lakers, where his dad plays, as well as their G League team—has taken the criticism in stride with the help of the Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
“I just take that and use it as fuel for me to go out, wake up every day and get to the gym early, get my extra work in, watch my extra film every day, get better every day,” he continued. “That’s what Rob wants me to do as a young guy, coming in, playing in the G League and learning from far on the bench watching the Lakers play.”
While Bronny—who made history with LeBron in October 2024, when the pair became the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA—chooses to tune out the hate, he does take constructive criticism into account. For instance, he reevaluated his game performance after fans said that he wasn’t a consistent player when it came to his stats.
“I started to see that, and it kind of drove you to consider that, well, maybe these people don’t think that I could be consistent as a player, be a good player, produce as a player,” he explained. “Seeing those numbers and seeing myself on film, I believed in myself more, and that boosted my confidence.”
And he knows that the proof is on the court.
“I definitely think I’ve improved, not only as a player, but just having a different mindset as a player to go out and play my game and play the game that I know how to play,” he said. “I feel really good about it—I see the progress.”
For more sports stars whose kids are following in their athletic footsteps, read on.
Bronny James (born LeBron James Jr. on born Oct. 6, 2004) played high school basketball for Chatsworth Sierra Canyon in the San Fernando Valley before graduating to the University of Southern California.
While the NBA schedule has often kept LeBron from being able to attend a full slate of his son’s games, he’s went to great lengths to watch Bronny in action. In fact, he once chartered a plane on an off-day to catch Sierra Canyon play against his own alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.
“To go watch my son play…and also versus my alma mater,” LeBron told reporters, “it’s a pretty surreal, come-full-circle, unbelievable thing.”
In June 2024, Bronny was drafted to the Los Angeles Lakers, making him and LeBron the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time.
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Also helping to make up the Sierra Canyon all-star squad? Zaire Wade, the eldest son of retired Miami Heat star (and former LeBron James teammate) Dwyane Wade.
“You’ve got to embrace it,” Zaire, who transferred there in December 2019 from Florida, told Yahoo! Sports about the unusual amount of attention being paid to his team. “There are cameras on us wherever we go. There has been a lot of attention on me my whole life, but this is crazy. This is another level.”
However, Zaire—unhappy with the lack of playing time he ended up getting—announced on Instagram In April 2020 that he’d be transferring to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, Fla.
Zaire was the 10th pick in the 2021 NBA G League draft, joining the Salt Lake City Stars. He went on to play for Cape Town Tigers of the Basketball Africa Leagu before signing with the of the ASEAN Basketball League in April 2024.
The retired football star has a daughter who may be able to leave him in the dust by now. After all, Cha’iel Johnson is a track and field star who competed in the 2017 AAU Junior Olympics at 12, winning the girls’ 800-meter run.
She ran for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida, before joining the University of Kentucky athletics team.
Michael Tullberg/Getty Images
The NBA Hall of Famer’s third-eldest child, who measures up at 6-foot-10, played college basketball for UCLA before being sidelined with a heart condition that required surgery.
After missing out on his 2018-19 season with the California-based school, he transferred to Louisiana State, where there’s a 900-pound bronze statue of Shaq outside the LSU Basketball Practice Facility in honor of its famous alum.
After graduating from LSU, the basketball star joined the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental basketball league in the NBA G League, in 2022.
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Shaq’s 6-foot-2 daughter (pictured here with her brother Shareef O’Neal) announced her LSU enrollment in 2020 to join her sibling in playing college basketball for the school.
“One of the most difficult decisions for a person my age to make, is the jump from high school to college,” she shared at the time. “Although I don’t fully know what’s ahead of me, I am ready for the challenge. I never imagined myself saying this, but I am excited to say that I have decided to commit to being a student athlete at LSU along side my brother Shareef O’Neal. I am Sooooo grateful to spend my next 4 years as a Tiger.”
She then transferred to Texas Southern University’s basketball program as part of their 2021-2022 team.
The eldest daughter of two-time NBA All-Star Zack Randolph played basketball alongside fellow NBA star scion Izela Arenas, daughter of Gilbert Arenas, during her studies at Sierra Canyon.
“I went to Michigan State under coach Tom Izzo,” Randolph told the Los Angeles Times in December 2020. “He was a dog. Just hard. The boys you can be a little rough with. The girls, they have you wrapped around your finger. The girls look at you, ‘Dad, I’m trying.’ You have a special spot for the girls.”
MacKenly said she’d beaten her dad three times in one-on-one, quipping, “He doesn’t play any defense.”
The 6-foot-3 son of the NFL Hall of Famer committed to Florida Atlantic University in 2019 as a preferred walk-on. Terique played basketball for most of his life before switching to football as a teen. He got his post-high school playing career off the ground at Contra Costa Community College before transferring.
After his college football career, Terique signed with the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad.
The Sierra Canyon graduate started all four years and won two state titles. He played college ball for Vanderbilt, before signing a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022.
After a brief stint on the NBA G-League affiliate the South Bay Lakers, Scotty Jr. signed a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2024.
Unique Nicole/Getty Images/Kevin Sullivan/Digital First Media/Orange County Register
The former Chicago Bulls star and five-time NBA champion is a lot of things—and a dad is one of them.
His son Dennis Rodman Jr.—or DJ—played basketball and football at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif. After graduation, he became a forward at Washington State, before transferring to University of Southern California in 2023.
“He’s one of the more under-rated or unknown players in Southern California,” his high school coach, Ryan Schachter, told the Orange County Register after a game in 2017.
After his college career, DJ joined Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League in 2024.
Tony Quinn/ISI Photos/Getty Images
Though Dennis’ son DJ followed his footsteps into basketball, his daughter Trinity Rodman carved her own path in the world of soccer. After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled her freshman season with the Washington State Cougars, she went professional and joined Washington Spirit in 2021 and United States women’s national soccer team in 2022.
In 2024, Trinity won Olympic gold as part of Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
It’s only fitting that golfing’s GOAT has a kid who’s got mad skills on the course. Charlie Woods made his televised-golf debut at the age of 11 alongside his dad at the 2020 PNC Championship.
When asked if he had been working on his swing ahead of the father-son outing, the 15-time major champion said, “I haven’t put in any time. I don’t really care about my game. I’m just trying to make sure that Charlie has the time of his life and is able to enjoy all of this.”
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