LeBron James says Bronny can’t call him ‘Dad’ this season with the Lakers: ‘We’ve already decided that’
There are still many questions about how things will work with LeBron James and Bronny James on the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
However, the older James has made one thing clear: He is not allowed to be called “Dad” at work.
“We’ve already got that sorted out. He’s not allowed to call me ‘Dad’ at work,” James said in an upcoming episode of ‘The Shop,’ which he filmed earlier this month during the Olympic Games in Paris.
“As soon as we leave the training area and close the gates, I can be ‘Dad’ again.”
The Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 pick in the NBA Draft earlier this summer after one season at USC. He then signed a four-year deal with $7.9 million guaranteed, which is unusual for a second-round pick. Bronny spent time with the Lakers’ Summer League team in Las Vegas in July, scoring double figures in several games despite hitting a brutal 0-of-15 three-pointers to start.
James has long said he wants to play in the league with his son before he retires. When they take the court together in a game for the first time, they will be the first father-son duo in NBA history to play as teammates and only the fourth father-son duo to do so in major American professional sports.
It’s unclear what impact Bronny will have on the Lakers this season under new head coach JJ Redick, who was hired to replace Darvin Ham, and how he will work as a colleague with his father, who is entering his 22nd season in the league, also remains to be seen.
As for what they will call each other, James stressed that it will be easy for him. For his son, however, it’s a different story.
“It’s easy for me. It’s going to be an adjustment for him,” James said. “But we can’t run down the field and he says, ‘Dad, push the ball up. Daddy, I’m free! Daddy!’ No, he can’t do that.”
