With the eyes of the NBA world in Cleveland for All-Star weekend, trust LeBron James to do what he always does – steal the show at a time when all of the stars have come together. He might be aging, but nobody gets people talking and demands all of the attention quite like King James.
This started during media availability before the All-Star game, with James having very favorable things to say about the hometown Cavaliers. It was nice for LeBron to acknowledge that the Cavs are building something nice with Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen (and his wardrobe), and Darius Garland. But when James mentions the Cavaliers, there can be more subtext.
LeBron James went back once before and delivered a championship, and with the Los Angeles Lakers sputtering, he could finish his career elsewhere yet.
That seemed like a ridiculous premise to bring up. After all, LeBron calls Hollywood home, and despite the ups and mostly downs of this season, he still gets to call a generational talent like Anthony Davis his teammate. But then James said something else really interesting, which put more weight behind the Cavaliers comments, and just about everything else out of his lips.
As noted by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports, LeBron went on to say that he had every intention of playing one NBA season with his son, Bronny James. This seemingly harmless comment (who wouldn’t want to play a professional sport with a parent or child) was actually huge, and may have even risen Bronny’s draft stock.
The Lakers are never going to be bad enough (you would think) to get a chance to draft James Jr., unless he winds up being not good enough to go in the first round of a future draft.
You’d need to talk to a draft expert on the likelihood of that, but that could mean LeBron leaving the Lakers to play with his son. Let’s check out the three best places where this could happen.