LeBron James Banned Sons Bronny and Bryce From Playing Football, Offered Them Safer Alternatives

Bronny James has been making headlines once again, as the USC guard is yet to decide his future with his college team. Even though Bronny isn’t certain, LeBron has publicly expressed his desire to play alongside his eldest son. King James has even taken drastic measures to ensure this, as the James siblings live a life of extreme discipline. In 2014, James banned both his sons, Bryce Maximus and Bronny James from playing football.

During a pre-game interview, back in 2014, LeBron James explained his stance, telling members of the media,

“We don’t want them to play in our household right now until they understand how physical and demanding the game is. Then they can have their choice in high school, we’ll talk over it,” he said. “But right now there’s no need for it. There are enough sports they can play. They play basketball, they play soccer, they play everything else but football and hockey.”

LeBron’s actions might seem a little hypocritical as James himself played football in High School. He was good at it too, as he made the all-state wide receiver team at St.Vincent.  Football was James’ first love, as basketball played second fiddle till his junior year. During the off-season of his junior year, LeBron broke his wrist, leading to James abandoning his NFL dreams for a safer avenue in basketball.

The gamble paid off for James, as he became basketball’s poster child before even finishing school. It’s maybe due to his personal experience that James doesn’t want his sons playing football. Unlike in James’s case, Bryce and Bronny don’t have to ‘make it’ as professional athletes, as they have a wider array of opportunities outside the sport. With growing knowledge surrounding TBI/CTE (traumatic brain injury) and its relation with American football, it’s understandable why James doesn’t want his sons playing the sport at a young age.

Does Bronny James have alternate plans?

Bronny James has been linked with the sport of basketball since his very birth. Credit of him being the son of NBA royalty LeBron James, Bronny has made his father proud with his exploits on the hardwood. But Bronny’s mother, Savannah James recently revealed that Bronny might have had his eye on turning pro in another sport.

While talking to Driving Cleveland, back in 2018, Momma James revealed that Bronny wanted to become a professional ‘snowboarder’, a dream he had revealed to her, back when Bronny was still a middle schooler. Savanah accepted her son’s wishes, encouraging her children to be whatever they desired. Talking about Bronny further, Mrs James revealed,

“Both of my boys play basketball and they are very good at playing basketball but my oldest son wants to be a professional snowboarder.” 

He was also seen snowboarding in a video and by the looks of it, he seemed pretty good at it. Even though Bronny dreamt of becoming a snowboarder, his fate seems tightly linked with basketball. He has had a rocky start to his collegiate debut, as he suffered a serious cardiac arrest last year. The incident seriously hampered his progress, as the 6’3″ guard dealt with serious minutes restrictions.

From the looks of it, Bronny will remain in college for a year or two more, as he further develops into a lottery pick. With LeBron still averaging 22 plus points a night, the King might have his dream come true, as Bronny should be league-bound within the next two years.