LeBron James Is the Proudest Father As Son Bryce Is Final Four-Bound With Arizona

Bryce James hasn't played for the Wildcats this season, but he's about to experience the NCAA tournament's Final Four for the first time.

James in January of 2025 committed to Arizona. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

As the final seconds ticked down on the Arizona men's basketball team's 79–64 win over Purdue in the Elite Eight on Saturday night, a proud father watched his son’s team punch its ticket to the Final Four.

That proud father was none other than four-time NBA champion and Lakers superstar LeBron James, whose son Bryce is on the Wildcats roster. Arizona was truly tested for the first time in the NCAA tournament by the Boilermakers, who led by seven points at the half, the first time the Wildcats had trailed during March Madness. The gritty Wildcats stormed back, in the second half, turning the water off on the Boilermakers' offense while dictating the pace of play when they had the ball.

The end result was a 15-point Arizona win and the program’s first trip to the Final Four in 25 years. In the aftermath of the game, LeBron took to X and posted a celebratory message complete with the Wildcats' battle cry, Bear Down.

🐻 DOWN!!!! FINAL 4️⃣ BOUND @ArizonaMBB 🫡

— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 29, 2026

James’s son joined the celebrations with his Wildcats teammates on the court at SAP Center at San Jose.

Does LeBron James’s son Bryce play for Arizona?

James, the younger brother of James's first-born son Bronny, committed to Arizona in January 2025. James, a four-star prospect, had also received offers from Ohio State and Duquesne. James was a part of Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd's 2025 recruiting class alongside standout starters Koa Peat and Brayden Burries.

But James has not appeared in a game for Arizona this season. After James had not appeared in the first three games of the season, Lloyd explained that the Wildcats were exploring the possibility of James redhsirting his freshman year. Lloyd had considered inserting James into the action towards the end of a Wildcats blowout, but doing so would prevent the Lakers star's son from utilizing a redshirt year.

Indeed, in February Lloyd confirmed that James would be redshirting for the 2025–26 season to give him “the most options in his career.”

“Bryce has made huge progress,” Lloyd said at the time. “He's been with us through the summer and now ... I have a real strong belief that Bryce will be a contributor at Arizona in the near future. He's really shown a lot of progress, not only learning our system but physically maturing.”

It's likely, then, that James will make his collegiate debut in 2026–27. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that he will share an NBA court with his father, as his brother has over the last two seasons.

LeBron and Bronny became the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA in 2024–25 and the first father-son duo to record an assist on the other’s basket during the Lakers' 116–99 win over the Nets on Friday.

LeBron James currently plays on the Lakers with his eldest son Bronny, but he has made clear that he won’t continue his career only to play with his younger son Bryce, currently a freshman at Arizona. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Does LeBron James hope to play with Bryce in the NBA?

Given Bryce James's uncertain timeline regarding his pro basketball future and LeBron’s acknowledgement that he will be retiring from the NBA “soon,” it seems unlikely. In September, LeBron told reporters that he wouldn't be prolonging his career simply to share the court with Bryce one day.

“No, I'm not waiting on Bryce,” James said at the time. “I don't know what his timeline is. He's his own young man now. He's down in Tucson. We'll see what happens this year, next year, but he has his own timeline. I've got my timeline. I don't know if they quite match up. We’ll see.”

It would be quite an experience to see LeBron share an NBA court with both of his sons. For now, James's younger son will get to experience one of the thrills of college basketball: the Final Four.

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