Back in early January last year, Savannah and LeBron James sat down with Uninterrupted for an interview. They were asked about their hopes for Bronny James’ future. As a mother, Savannah’s answer was genuine – she wanted him to be happy in whatever he does. On the other hand, James was crystal clear. He wanted his eldest in the NBA.
A vision took over of him sharing the floor with Bronny. Looking at his elite production at almost 39, fans are envisioning him alongside both of his sons.
Being the son of an NBA great has its implications, both sweet and sour. You do get some attractive perks, but the enormous expectations they have to emulate a career like their father can’t be denied.
Both the James sons are playing basketball. Bryce at Sierra Canyon and Bronny is a freshman at USC. But is that what they really want? An old clip of Savannah James admitting a different dream has given rise to that query.
Bronny James doesn’t want basketball?
Five years ago, the businesswoman was a guest on Driving Cleveland. Host Andrea Vecchi and Savannah James drove around Akron, her hometown while having conversations about the latter’s life. Without surprise, her children came up. Raising two boys and a girl in LeBron James’ household couldn’t be easy.
Basketball has always been around them. However, she claimed it was never forced on her children in any way. Furthermore, she said they embraced their children exploring their true passions. In doing so she revealed a unique dream Bronny James shared with her.
“It’s one thing to have a passion for basketball and love the sport. Both of my boys play basketball, and they’re very good at playing basketball. But my oldest son wants to be a professional snowboarder,”
While she did admit both of the James clan’s sons are good basketball players, being a snowboarder came off as a surprise. Not once had we heard this dream of Bronny’s before this interview half a decade ago.
So can we assume he was pressurized to forego his snowboarding dream?
LeBron James didn’t force basketball on his sons
As outsiders, we can easily assume if the father is in the NBA, the son might follow. It’s a pattern we see even today. Most ex-NBA stars’ children have found their passion in basketball. Similar is the case with LeBron James’ two sons. They both are at the center of high school and college ball respectively. But it isn’t out of an expectation that they strive to be in the NBA.
In a segment with Maverick Carter and Paul Rivera in 2020, James said, “There’s not one time that I ever asked my kids, ‘Do you want to play basketball. It was just in them,”
