“Family over Everything in All Situations”: Having Spent $300,000 on Lakers’ Season Tickets, Shannon Sharpe Disagrees with LeBron James’ Plans for Bronny’s Debut

LeBron James recently told multiple reporters that he has every intention of missing one LA Lakers game to attend his son Bronny James’s USC debut. The 19-year-old Bronny has had an eventful few months and is expected to make a return to basketball soon. 

However, as evident by his discussion with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson on their Nighcap podcast, Shannon Sharpe believes that LeBron has no right to miss a Lakers game to watch his son play. Sharpe initially read out Lebron’s statement and immediately suggested that James was guilty of not taking the regular season seriously.

Chad Johnson seemed to agree with Bron’s decision to take one of his 82 games off for family. However, Sharpe didn’t appear to be impressed by his co-host’s remarks. “You sign up for things like this. You are gonna miss recital, you are gonna miss stuff. Let me ask you a question. If it was a Playoff game, Game 7, you missing it?” Sharpe responded passionately.

While James said that his family came before ‘everything’, let alone a Lakers’ game, Sharpe believed that it was more about the occasion than James’ family. He suggested that LeBron would never have made the same decision if he actually thought the game in question was worth his time. 

“If it’s family over everything, it is family over everything in all situations,” retorted Sharpe, claiming that LeBron wouldn’t miss a playoff Game 7 or an NBA Finals matchup for this. But he is willing to miss a regular season game.

“He is looking at these games…I give it my all. Like I said, I spent $300k on a Laker season ticket, and went to one game,” Sharpe added, suggesting that James was guilty of not giving it his all for the LA Lakers in the regular season.

While Sharpe may have a point in questioning LeBron’s decision, James can be forgiven to be willing to miss one Lakers game for a special occasion like his son’s collegiate debut. Bronny James recently recovered from a scary situation and deserves the support of his father.

Bronny James set to make incredible return to basketball with USC debut

LeBron is bound to be excited and nervous both, about his eldest son’s USC debut. Bronny has only recently been cleared to play basketball by doctors after suffering a cardiac arrest during a workout.

Initially putting a question mark over his basketball future, Bronny was revealed to have a significant congenital heart defect, according to NY Post. Currently a 4-star recruit, Bronny played in the 2023 McDonald’s All-American game and is expected to play alongside LeBron in the NBA one day.

His cardiac arrest resulted in Bronny being admitted at an LA hospital for 3 days, on July 24. While he was quickly cleared of any serious issues by doctors, Bronny’s quick return to basketball is evidence of the same kind of mentality towards the sport that his father regularly shows.

While Sharpe might question James’ mentality, LeBron James seems determined to see his son debut for his college.