LeBron James Discussed Watching Bronny ‘Figure Out’ Who He Can Be In The NBA ‘On His Own’

There are plenty of guys who come into the NBA and make clear from the jump that they want to achieve superstardom. Recently, Bronny James went in a slightly different direction, as he pointed out a trio of players with two combined All-Star appearances as the kinds of guys he wants to model his game after in the league.

They’re three exceptional players to model your game after — particularly for a guy like Bronny, a promising but undersized guard whose game will keep developing in the league — but they’re also pretty unconventional answers. And on the most recent episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast, J.J. Redick couldn’t help but ask Bronny’s dad, LeBron James, about it, saying it was “neat” that someone as young as Bronny had this perspective.

“Do you talk to him about that?” Redick asked. “Do you talk to him about who he can be in the NBA, or is he figuring this out on his own.”

“I think he’s figuring it out,” James responded. “I wanted him to kind of figure it out on his own, of where he sees himself fit in the NBA, or where he sees what his comp looks like. To see him mention guys like Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, a few other guys, Marcus Smart, Davion Mitchell, these are guys who come in and, for a team that’s trying to win championship, a team that wants to win every night, these are the players that you have to have on your team. It doesn’t always show up in the box scores, but it always shows up in the winning plays. And for Bronny to have that perspective on where he stands today, that’s great, and I think that’s great for any team, to be able to have a 19-year-old kid, like you said, I know that wasn’t my goal.”

James then laid out how he wanted to achieve all the individual success as he entered the league, but went on to again praise his son’s perspective and mindset, particularly due to the fact that “we’ve never actually even talked about it.”