LeBron James Shuts Down Report That His Son, Bronny, Is Entering Transfer Portal

On Tuesday, Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News reported Bronny James, son of NBA superstar LeBron James, was entering the college basketball transfer portal.

After the Los Angeles Lakers’ 128-111 win over the Toronto Raptors, LeBron was asked about those reports.

“I don’t know where it came from,” James said to reporters including ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “At the end of the day, Bronny’s his own man and he has some tough decisions to make. And when he’s ready to make those decisions, he’ll let us all know. But as his family, we’ll support whatever he does.”

James is coming off his freshman season with the USC Trojans, and many wondered if he would declare for the NBA Draft. For now, though, it appears he’s yet to make a decision.

USC’s head coach, Andy Enfield, recently left the Trojans to become the head coach at SMU. Since then, USC has already lost their top recruit for the 2024-25 season in four-star All-American Trent Perry. It remains to be seen if the Trojans lose more recruits and/or current players following Enfield’s departure.

James’ USC tenure got off to a delayed start after he suffered a cardiac arrest on July 24 during a USC practice. James ended up making his USC debut on December 10, and appeared in 25 games during his freshman season.

James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game. He showed flashes as a passer and on the defensive side of the ball, including some classic chase-down blocks that gave shades of his father (like this one via Hoop Central on X):

James, however, never got his shot going during his freshman season, leading many to wonder if he would declare for the draft or return to college for another year. James shot 36.6 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from deep, and 67.6 percent from the free-throw line in his first season with the Trojans.

James’ father has been adamant about wanting to play with his son in the NBA. Many speculated that the sheer fact of LeBron joining his son could lead a team to draft Bronny, potentially as early as the first round.

The elder James even went as far as posting on X last year that his son was “definitely better” than some of the players he was watching on NBA League Pass.

While Bronny didn’t have the freshman season many were expecting him to have, the fact that he was able to return to the court just months after suffering cardiac arrest was impressive enough.

James also showed his flashes, including a career-high 15 points at the end of December against Oregon State. James played big minutes in USC’s two biggest wins of the season—an upset win over the Arizona Wildcats to close out the regular season and a first-round win against the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 tournament.

Against Arizona, James had five points, six rebounds, two steals, and one block in 19 minutes. Against Washington, James had seven points, five rebounds, and one steal in 18 minutes.

James has some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks regarding his future. But for now, according to his father, it sounds like he hasn’t reached one yet.