LeBron James denies reports that son Bronny may transfer from USC

LeBron James has denied reports suggesting his Bronny would transfer from USC after just one season, despite admitting the 19-year-old freshman will have some “tough decisions” to make this spring.

Speaking to reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 128-111 win over the Toronto Raptors, James offered nothing but support for his eldest son after veteran basketball writer Dick Weiss hinted at a possible change of scenery for Bronny in a now-deleted post on social media.

“I don’t know where (the reports) are coming from, but at the end of the day, Bronny is his own man and he has to make a tough decision… As his family, we will support whatever he does,” James shared. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin after his 23-point, nine-assist performance on Tuesday.

Earlier that same evening, Weiss shared on X: “USC freshman guard Bronny James is entering the transfer portal. good for him. needs to get away from the Hollywood hype. good luck to LeBron’s kid.”

He later retracted his comments: “I can’t confirm Bronny James’ story, guys. still think it’s an idea whose time has come. logical that it happens. I love that kid, I think he could be a star elsewhere.”

Weiss — a member of the National Sportswriters Hall of Fame who previously covered college hoops for the New York Daily News for more than two decades — also repeated a claim that Duke, Ohio State, UCLA, Xavier and Rutgers are favorites to win the son of to recruit the most. popular basketball player in the world.

Duquesne – the team James championed during this year’s March Madness tournament – is also in the running to land Bronny. In 2022, the Dukes attempted to recruit James’ youngest son, Bryce, at age 15 by giving him a Division I scholarship.

Bronny’s potential departure from USC would follow the departure of former Trojans head coach Andy Enfield to SMU after the latter was hired by the Mustangs on Monday. Enfield was the Trojans’ head coach for the past 11 years, but failed to reach the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 2019.

Andy Enfield left USC for SMU earlier this week after 11 years as the program’s head coach

In his only season playing for Southern California to date, Bronny appeared in 25 games with six states, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his 19.4 minutes per game .

Bronny missed the first eight games of his true freshman season after suffering sudden cardiac arrest during the Trojans’ offseason practices in early July.

Playing on a minutes restriction to start his college career, he scored four points, as well as two rebounds, two assists, two steals and a chase block reminiscent of his father in his first game against Long Beach State. He played 16 minutes in that match.

Bronny would then make his first career start against Colorado on January 13. He then started three consecutive Pac-12 games before coming off the bench in USC’s next two matchups. He was then reinserted into USC’s starting five for three more games before coming off the bench again for the remainder of the season.