At the 2024 NBA Draft, Bronny James was officially selected by the Los Angeles Lakers at Pick 55. He will play with his father, LeBron James, at the home team Crypto.Com Arena, and at the same time make his mark in history as the team. The first father and son pair to participate in the tournament.
Most recently, Bronny James chose the number 9 shirt on the Los Angeles Lakers squad. The name on his shirt will have the words James Jr, symbolizing LeBron James’ son.
So why did Bronny James choose shirt number 9? The Sporting News will provide the answer in the article below.
Why did Bronny James choose shirt number 9 at the Los Angeles Lakers?
Bronny James will wear the number 9 shirt of the Los Angeles Lakers starting in the 2024/25 season. According to many people, Bronny James wants to reverse the number 6 shirt that LeBron James often wears during his career.
However, Bronny James chose shirt number 9 for another reason. According to the explanation at the press conference at the Los Angeles Lakers, he did this to honor the late rapper Juice WRLD.
“Juice WRLD is someone who played an important role in helping me feel calm in life. I just want to show respect to him, who passed away at a very young age,” said Bronny James.
Previously, Bronny James wore jersey number 0 at Sierra Canyon High School, but for the Los Angeles Lakers, that number now belongs to Jalen Hood-Schifino.
In the past, there have been 15 players wearing the number 9 shirt of the Los Angeles Lakers. Sterling Brown is the latest player to wear the number 9 shirt in 2023. The list of players who have worn the number 9 shirt for the Lakers has quite prominent names such as Nick Van Exel, Luol Deng, and Rajon Rondo.
- Jim Chones
- Nick Van Excel
- Bryon Russell
- Chucky Atkins
- Laron Profit
- Sun Yue
- Matt Barnes
- Chris Kaman
- Ronnie Price
- Marcelo Huertas
- Luol Deng
- Rajon Rondo
- Wesley Matthews
- Kent Bazemore
- Sterling Brown
Bronny James’ college stats
- 4.8 average points
- 2.8 rebounds average
- 2.1 average assists
- 0.8 steals average
- 0.2 blocks on average
- 1.1 average turnovers
- 36.6% average performance
- 26.7% average 3-point performance
- 19.3 minutes played on average
- 25 matches