The Los Angeles Lakers have selected LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. as the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft on Thursday afternoon.

The highly controversial son of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer LeBron James, Bronny drew a lot of backlash from people surrounding his whole draft process. Some felt the elder James had been in the shadows pulling the strings to make this move, after citing since last year about his desire and dream to play with his son in the NBA.

However, a lot of people also justified the Lakers’ decision, with former and current NBA players alike congratulating James and their whole family. 

The Lakers mentioned Bronny’s work ethic in his workouts with the team and his character as something that the franchise valued. This helped with the decision to draft the younger James, led by general manager Rob Pelinka and newly-hired head coach JJ Redick. 

The 6-foot-2, 210 lbs pound guard out of USC has had a rocky start to his basketball career, including suffering a cardiac arrest last year from a congenital heart disease. Since then, James Jr. has had to return to the court, training vigorously. He successfully played, was cleared by USC’s medical team, and averaged modest stats in college.

Now, Bronny is set to play for LA alongside his father LeBron. The duo are set to become the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time, and this fulfills the elder James’ dream and legacy by playing together with his eldest son.