LeBron James Says He Never Asked His Children If They Wanted To Play Basketball
LeBron James, who is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, says he never tried to guide his children to play the sport.
"There's not one time that I ever asked my kids, 'Do you want to play basketball," James said in an interview with Uninterrupted.
Both of his sons, however, naturally gravitated toward the sport.
Bronny, who’s in ninth grade, was going to play in the state championship game for Sierra Canyon High in March before the game was canceled by the The California Interscholastic Federation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And Bryce plays for his seventh grade basketball team at the school's middle school.
James said he's deeply proud of each of his three children. And if Bronny ever wants basketball advice, he will forever be in his son's corner.
"To see Bronny where he is today, to see Bryce where he is today, to see Zhuri where she is today," James said. "To be able to raise them. There's nothing that Bronny will ever see that I've never been a part of. He literally has a Super Contra Chico unlimited ammo if he wants it."
James has said multiple times that he'd love to play alongside Bronny in the NBA. James, a three-time NBA champion and four-time MVP, is 35 years old and in his 17th season in the league. Bronny is expected to graduate in 2023.
"I damn sure would love to stick around if my oldest son can have an opportunity to play against me," James told GQ in 2017. "That'd be the icing on the cake right there."
James, however, added that he wouldn't take it easy on him.
"I'll foul the shit out of him!" James told the magazine. "I'd give him all six fouls. I'd foul the shit out of Bronny, man."
James tries to attend his sons' games whenever he can. In January, before a game against the Boston Celtics, James drove to a tournament 90 miles outside of the city to watch Bronny play in the Hoophall Classic at Springfield College.
The Lakers suffered their biggest loss of the season that night, 137-109, but James had no regrets about making that trip.
In fact, after Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, James talked about how he always tries to keep in perspective what's most important in his life.
"If you got kids, tell your kids you love them," James said after the Lakers hosted Portland on Jan. 31 in their first game following the crash. "Try to make it to as much as you can. And don’t feel bad, don’t feel bad if you happen to go to one of your loved ones’ events or something like that to sacrifice your job. Because I didn’t feel bad in Boston. I went to go see my son two hours away in Springfield, we had a game that night, we got our ass kicked. But I didn’t feel bad at all. So, um, yeah, that took a twist. But in the name of Kobe, why not?"
