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The most famous high school student in the country will make his way to JQH Arena this week as Bronny James participates in the 2022 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions with Sierra Canyon.
The Trailblazers are scheduled to first play Parkview on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Bronny, of course, is the son of NBA superstar LeBron James. He's a viral sensation and a really good basketball player himself.
Here are some things to know about Bronny before he takes the court in Springfield this week:
His dad (LeBron James) is kind of famous
LeBron James is widely considered one of the two greatest basketball players to ever live — and if you turn on ESPN at any given moment, you will likely find someone debating if he is better than Michael Jordan.
James is a 37-year-old superstar who has won championships with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and his current team, the Los Angeles Lakers.
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The four-time NBA champion also has four NBA MVPs to go next to his name and four NBA Finals MVPs. He's a 16-time NBA All-Star and was a No. 1 overall pick out of high school when he attended St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.
Bronny was born in 2004 when LeBron was 19 and going into his first rookie season. LeBron and his longtime girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, eventually got married and have raised LeBron James Jr.
"King James" decided to skip college and go straight to the pros — and was named the 2004 NBA Rookie of the Year as a member of his hometown Cavaliers.
LeBron has been known to show up to his son's games when he gets the chance. The Lakers have a game on Wednesday in Sacramento and one Saturday night in Denver. There's a chance he could show up at JQH Arena one of the first two nights.
Bronny James is a good basketball player himself
Bronny might not be as touted as his dad was out of high school — no one ever has been — but don't get it confused: Bronny is still very good at basketball.
Bronny is a five-star player, according to 247Sports' Composite ranking. He's the No. 19 player and No. 4 combo guard in the country.
247Sports' Director of Basketball Recruiting, Evan Daniels, wrote that Bronny is an impressive athlete who has a great feel for the game with his vision and passing. He compliments his shooting, mechanics and his potential as a point guard.
Speculation has run wild about his future — whether it be what school he chooses or what will happen once *if* he reaches the NBA.
The biggest schools in the country are already pursuing him and it appears he will have his choice. It also doesn't appear his dad will retire any time soon — further drawing speculation that LeBron might sign wherever his son ends up once reaching the NBA so the two can play together.
Who is Bronny James being recruited by?
For a family that doesn't have much under the radar, Bronny's college recruiting has been kept under wraps pretty well.
Bronny's recruiting pages have him linked to Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina — which could be misleading because those stem from visits he took with his AAU team. All of those schools are likely interested but not much else has been out there.
Eric Bossi of 247Sports wrote in December that it's believed that Duke, Ohio State, Tennessee and Texas among others are the ones who have been pursuing him behind the scenes.
Bronny James all over social media
When you're LeBron James' kid and you're a hooper, you're going to be a pretty popular kid.
Bronny boasts a crazy 6.1 million followers on Instagram despite not being the most active. His dad (who has 108 million followers) wrote in his own Instagram post in May 2019 that he kept his son off social media for three years before finally letting "the heir to the throne" have one.
Of course, Bronny also has a TikTok — which features those looping videos that the kids are doing these days. He's active on there and now has 5.4 million followers and has received more than 44.2 million likes on his videos.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
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