Bronny James, the eldest son of NBA legend LeBron James, will know in a few weeks’ time whether he will have the opportunity to play pro basketball with his father in 2024. Bronny has emerged as a polarizing prospect after a so-so freshman season at USC…but a strong performance at the draft combine, where he showed deadly accuracy from 3-point range.

Whereas many experts see Bronny as a second-round pick — perhaps as one of the final selections — there is a chance that the 19-year-old could make a late surge up draft boards, especially if LeBron continues to imply that drafting his son means a team might be able to tempt him to leave the Los Angeles Lakers. And a new revelation could provoke just the surge for which Bronny and LeBron could be looking.

Prior to committing to USC, Bronny attended Sierra Canyon, a high school/preparatory institution in Los Angeles. Although his precise grade-point average is unknown, his player bio on the Trojans‘ website reveals that he made the honor roll while in high school — which, at Sierra Canyon, means that a student would have had to maintain a 3.5 GPA or better over multiple semesters.

"He could be successful in the #NBA and still be a failure to people… He's getting attention because of his name. If his name was Bronny Smith, no one would care, but it's Bronny James."

-Dan on Bronny James pic.twitter.com/ZiVKV5zQgl

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 29, 2024

With Bronny’s senior-year GPA situated above 3.5, NBA teams in doubt over where to select him (or whether to select him at all) could come down to how highly a front office values his academic performance. A high GPA shows commitment and maturity — which could help Bronny’s draft stock and perhaps elevate him into the first round, where LeBron’s Lakers will be picking 17th overall.

Myles Powell went undrafted and is playing overseas now but bronny James skipping dozens of nba workouts after scoring 5ppg at usc . NBA will always be politics pic.twitter.com/U4oEDwEkOD

— John (@iam_johnw) May 28, 2024