On July 24, 2023, Bronny James‌ shocked the sports world. LeBron James’ 19-year-old son had suffered a cardiac arrest. It was the second cardiac arrest case among American athletes in seven months, and the third from 2023. 

In all three cases, one thing was common: all three athletes survived. It was because of the timely CPR performed by either a trained specialist or someone who knew CPR. In a joint partnership with the American Heart Association's Nation of Lifesavers campaign, Bronny posted a video of him revealing ‌what happened in 2023. He also revealed how a coaching assistant saved his life.

“It was a regular day for me in the summer, practicing with the team,” Bronny said in the video posted on his Instagram handle. “Out of nowhere, I sat down for a little bit, got back up, walked around, and kind of felt a little dizzy, a little nauseous, and then I ended up passing out. Woke up on the practice floor.”

When Bronny woke up, it was only then that he knew what had actually happened to him.

“Like, what happened? They told me that my heart had stopped. I needed to get defibrillated, and they brought me back to life. What I didn't know is something big happened.”

Bronny had a congenital heart defect, and he had lived all his life until then with the condition. As much as he is alive today, if the preparedness wasn’t in place and a simple mistake, the result would have been a lot worse.

“Had gone, you know, 19 years of my life with no problems. I was in college, you know, in the best shape of my life. So, I wasn't thinking about it at all, and one of the coaching assistants, he was, like, one of the first guys to run out and get the AED and perform CPR on me. I'm alive today because, you know, medical staff and my coaches were prepared for the worst, and it ended up saving my life, so I'm, you know, really appreciative of that.”

Bronny’s basketball career was on the line. Later that year, ‌Bronny had heart surgery. Two months later, he was cleared to play in the NBA.

LeBron James defends his son Bronny James against nepotism tag

Bronny James was slected at 55th by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024. Never had a player picked that low had so much attention on him. Just after a few Summer League and regular season game, the narrative of LeBron forcing the Lakers to pick his son dominated discussions around Bronny.

But for Bronny NBA superstar father, his son was in the NBA because of his talents.

"The kid has earned his right to be a professional athlete," LeBron told Time magazine for its The 100 Most Influential People in Sports issue published June 9. "The thing you’re not going to do is throw stones at us as a family."

The four-time NBA champion clarified that he wasn't against people criticizing Bronny's game. However, there was one thing particulalry that James said he wouldn't tolerate.

"I'm not letting that s*** slide," he explained, "because I know what I've created because of what I didn't have. So if you want to talk about the kid, that he shouldn't be an NBA player, I don't care about that. As long as you don’t get to the fatherhood piece. I don't play those games."

Last year, during a Lakers game, LeBron confronted Stephen A. Smith in front of thousands of fans during a Lakers-New York Knicks game. The Lakers star was not happy with Smith making comments on his fatherhood.

"That wasn't a basketball player confronting me; that was a parent, and that was a father," Smith later said.

Do you think Bronny James deserves to be in the NBA? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi