LeBron James revealed Monday that his son, Bronny, had surgery this summer after he experienced cardiac arrest at a basketball workout with USC.
James didn’t provide details on the procedure or when it took place, but did share that Bronny was recovering well from the incident and he expects his son to play for USC this season.
“Bronny’s doing extremely well,” James told reporters at Lakers media day. “He’s begun his rehab process to get back on the floor this season with his teammates and USC — the successful surgery that he had. But he’s on the up and up.
“Definitely a whirlwind and a lot of emotions for our family this summer. But the best thing we have is each other. … We’re happy to see where he is today and we look forward to seeing what his future still has in store for him.”
Bronny, 18, is a freshman at USC. He committed to play for the Trojans over offers from Ohio State, Oregon and others in a high-profile recruiting process. He went into cardiac arrest on July 24 during a team workout and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
He was stabilized and released from the hospital three days later and diagnosed with a treatable congenital heart defect. The James family revealed his diagnosis in an August statement after previously sharing video of Bronny playing piano in the family home.
The James family noted at the time that were “very confident in Bronny’s full recovery.”
On Monday, James said he’s dedicating the upcoming Lakers season to Bronny.
“Nothing else matters besides my family,” James continued. “Obviously, I’m gonna dedicate this season to Bronny because of the incident that happened this summer. Understand that it just puts everything in perspective.
“No matter what’s going on in your life at that point in time that the only thing that matters is your family. To see what he’s been through over the last few months, it’s been a lot. I can only imagine how it’s been for him, because it’s been a lot for me, it’s been a lot for our family.
Exactly when Bronny will return to the court isn’t yet clear. USC coach Andy Enfield announced last week that Bronny was attending classes but didn’t speculate on his return to basketball activities.
“We just can’t comment on anything medically,” Enfield said. ” … We anticipate him being a very valuable part of our basketball team.”
LeBron James celebrates becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring leader with Bronny in February. (Harry How/Getty Images) (Harry How via Getty Images)
James on Monday gave “the biggest shoutout, the biggest praise” to the training and coaching staff at USC for their response to Bronny’s condition and thanked the medical staff at Cedars-Sinai for their treatment of Bronny. He then reiterated just how well Bronny was doing.
“If he were to walk through the door right now, you wouldn’t even know that he had what he had because of how well he’s moving, how vibrant he is,” James said. “It’s just a beautiful thing.”
