July 4, 2024
Bronny James Becomes A Laker And $7.9M Richer With Rookie Contract
The contract signing, which coincided with his father, LeBron James’ two-year $104 million extension signing, officially makes the duo the first father-and-son teammates in NBA history.
Bronny James, perhaps the most-discussed second-round pick in NBA history, has signed his rookie deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal, signed on July 3, entitles him to $7.9 million over four years.
According to ESPN, the contract signing, which coincided with his father, LeBron James’ two-year $104 million extension signing, officially makes the duo the first father-and-son-teammates in NBA history. James’s contract breakdown is as follows: $1,157,143 in his rookie season, $1,955,377 in his second season, $2,296,271 in his third season, and in his fourth season, a player option, James is set to make $2,486,955.
Initially, the Lakers announced signing its two draft picks, Bronny and Dalton Knecht, to contracts but did not release the terms of the deals. According to Yahoo, players who are selected in the second round are not typically given guaranteed contracts because, in most cases, those players are not locks to make the team’s final roster. As they noted in their reporting, most of those players have to fight just to secure a two-way contract split between the NBA team and their G-League affiliate.
James’s agent, Rich Paul, who is also his father’s agent and the agent of the franchise’s building block, Anthony Davis, indicated that would not be an option for Bronny, telling Bleacher Report’s Chris Hayes, “Yes, that’s absolutely true,” Paul said regarding his requirement that James receive a guaranteed deal instead of a two-way deal.
“Teams know that. I’m not doing that.”
In his introductory press conference, Bronny stressed that he is grateful for his opportunity and that playing with his father is not something he is concerned with.
“Everything has been so surreal. Just trying to take it all in by the days,” James said.
“Extremely grateful for everything that JJ [Redick] and Rob [Pelinka] have given to me. I’ve just been extremely excited to get to work. I never really had a thought of me going to play with my dad, but that’s always there to take part of. It wasn’t a main focus of mine.”
James has already seen the controversy his selection stirred up and he briefly addressed it during the presser. “For sure, an amplified amount of pressure. I’ve already seen it on social media and stuff on the internet, talking about how I might not deserve an opportunity. But I’ve been dealing with stuff like this my whole life. It’s nothing different. It’s more amplified for sure, but I can get through it.”
Reddick, the newly hired coach of the Lakers, added, “Rob and I did not give Bronny anything. Bronny has earned this. Bronny, who talks about his hard work. Bronny has earned this through hard work. For us, prioritizing player development, we view Bronny as like case study. His base level of feel, athleticism, point of attack defender, shooting, passing; there’s a lot to like about his game.”
James suffered a cardiac arrest during a practice session during his sole season at USC, which he alluded to in his remarks.
“The time that I had off, I feel like I could’ve been perfecting my game more,” James said.
“I just feel like I’ve been given the opportunity to show what I can really do because I wasn’t given that much of an opportunity at [USC]. So I’m excited for what is to come.”
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