LeBron James has become one of the greatest basketball players of all time over the past decade or so, and his kids have a chance at carrying on that legacy.

His son, Bronny James, is about to enter his senior year of high school, and although some doubt whether he will become true NBA material, he is already starting to gain interest from college basketball programs.

LeBron James’ has another son, Bryce James, who is going into his sophomore year of high school and has grown to 6-foot-6, just three inches shorter than his father.

LeBron James posted a video of him working out with both of his sons at the practice facility of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bron, Bronny and Bryce putting in work at the Lakers facility 🔥

(via @KingJames) pic.twitter.com/s6ItVBMB6F

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 2, 2022

Both Bronny and Bryce James attend Sierra Canyon School, a private institution located in the San Fernando Valley.

Will LeBron and Bronny James ever become teammates? – Powered By PickUpLeBron James has made it clear that he intends to play on the same team as Bronny James if and when the latter makes it to the NBA.

Bronny James will be eligible to be drafted in 2024 when he is 19 years old.

Don’t sleep on Kendrick Nunn’s potential impact on the Lakers

 

Lakers begin 2024 season Sunday

—The Kalispell Lakers AA American Legion team will field a fairly young lineup when its season begins Sunday at 1 p.m., with a doubleheader at Griffin Field against Missoula.

Veteran coach Ryan Malmin notes his six seniors could all be super seniors next summer — making the 2025 team extremely veteran — but that’s a ways off. Right now, he likes the makeup of his team.

“It’s a great group of kids that carry great energy,” Malmin said. “”It’s really kind of a bunch of Dirtbags who get after it, have fun. They like to be challenged.”

The reference to the self-proclaimed Long Beach State Dirtbags, an NCAA power that made several College World Series appearances, is telling.

The Lakers won 34 games last year with one player — Max Holden, in his final Legion season — getting post-season honors. Malmin feels their depth and exuberance will be a potent combination.

Ostyn Brennan is one of the half-dozen returnees; he hit leadoff and played infield because knee issues kept him from playing catcher. Malmin is pleased to have a fully healthy Brennan back behind the plate this season.

Add in shortstop Kaden Drish and second baseman Carter Schlegel — who are interchangeable, Malmin said — and the Lakers are pretty strong up the middle, with outfielders Andre Cephers, Colin Leonard and Oscar Kallis back as well.

Cephers perhaps flew under the radar last summer, given that his earned run average over 62 innings was a sparkling 1.98.

“He blossomed in his first year as a AA guy,” Malmin said. “If we can have anything close to that this year we’ll be happy.”

Back from two years ago is Michael Owens, who missed the 2023 season after shoulder surgery. He’ll play first base, though Brysen Herion and Bryce Buckmaster — both up from the last year’s A Lakers — could figure in there as well.

At third base are two more 2023 A Lakers: Luke Nikunen and Hunter Fann. Jackson Heino is also up from Class A and plays outfield.

Malmin said another unique team is the depth of pitching. Cephers, who also catches, has the most experience; nobody is a fireballer. Eleven different Lakers could be on the bump at some point, though Malmin mentioned Cephers, Nikunen, Kallis, Schlegel and Buckmaster up front.

The hardest thrower may be Brennan. “It’d be ideal if he could come in and close games for us,” Malmin said.

“It’s about who is going to be fearless in the strike zone, fill the zone up and allow us to make strengths defensively,” he added. “We’re going to use April and May to figure out how the staff evolves.”

The A Lakers begin their season Sunday as well, in Missoula against the A Mavericks.

Both teams will be in action at home next Saturday: The AA Lakers take on Cranbrook, Alberta, and the A Lakers bring in Great Falls.

KU coach Bill Self (& others) marvel at Christian Braun’s dunking exhibition in Denver

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self acknowledged the contributions of super senior forward Parker Braun at Thursday night’s postseason awards banquet, noting the former Blue Valley Northwest standout “had flashes this year that were fantastic.”

Self, who likes to keep things light during a 30-minute speech that concludes the annual dinner at Burge Union, added jokingly that Parker, “is kind of the vocal, outlandish brother (of three boys in the Braun family). Parker is obviously way out there.”

He continued.

“I know Landon (youngest) is here. They’ve got another brother named Christian who is more reserved than Parker,” Self joked of exuberant former KU guard Christian Braun of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, who is actually much more outgoing than Parker.

“Christian had three dunks last night in a 3 1/2-minute stretch and he only posted it 12 times (on social media). Did you guys see the 3 1/2 minutes? Pretty special,” Self added in a serious tone.

“My best sequence in the NBA,” Christian Braun told the Denver Post of three crunch-time slams that had fans rocking at the Nuggets’ Ball Arena in Wednesday’s home finale of the regular season.

First, Denver’s Nikola Jokic made a two-handed pass to Braun on the right wing. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Braun, who started for KU’s 2022 NCAA title team, drove to the hoop and flushed a two-handed jam, giving Denver a 101-92 lead over Minnesota with 4:03 left in a 116-107 win.

Next, Denver’s Jamal Murray lofted a pass from the far end line to Braun just pass midcourt. Braun used his left hand to dribble all the way to the goal, then instead of passing to Peyton Watson underneath the goal went airborne off his left foot, moved the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air and completed a one-handed thunderous dunk over one of the best defenders in the NBA, Rudy Gobert.

That gave Denver a 106-94 lead at 3:23.

Finally on Denver’s next possession, Michael Porter Jr. lobbed to Braun for a two-handed slam that gave Denver a 108-94 lead at 3:01.

Christian Braun is getting BOUNCY on ESPN!

Back-to-back emphatic jams by Braun 😤💥 pic.twitter.com/vnBvSPaVlf

— NBA (@NBA) April 11, 2024

The middle dunk was the most remarkable of the three and was named ESPN SportsCenter’s No. 8 play of the day.

“I would definitely say it’s probably the best (dunk) so far,” Braun told denvergazette.com.

“A lot of the credit goes to ‘P-Wat,’ because I think Rudy knew that P-Wat’s a high flyer running behind him,” Braun told the Denver Post.

“So, he (Gobert) was stunting, following, trying to play both, which is what you’re supposed to do, obviously, in transition. He was just caught between two guys that attack the rim pretty hard.”

The Nuggets were determined to run and gun their way past the Timberwolves.

“I don’t usually try (acrobatic dunks) in the fourth quarter of a big game like that, but … I didn’t want to go up with a layup against the best defensive player in the league,” Braun said of Gobert. “You’ve got to attack him strong. The sequence was really fun, too. Just getting up and down, that’s when we play our best basketball,” Braun added.

“It was like a dunk show,” noted coach Michael Malone.

Braun — he averages 7.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists through 81 games — is in his second season in the league after playing a huge role for the Nuggets during their NBA title run a year ago. He’s a rotation player but not usually in the game with Peyton Watson during crunch time.

The 22-year-old Braun (he turns 23 on Wednesday) has started four games and averages 20.1 minutes per contest. He has made 46.1% of his shots compared to his 49.5% mark as a rookie. He’s hitting 38.6% from 3 this year compared to 35.4% last season.