Bronny James Declares for NBA Draft, Enters Transfer Portal

Bronny James, the son of NBA star LeBron James, announced on Instagram that he will be entering the 2024 NBA Draft. The 19-year-old will also enter the transfer portal to maintain his college eligibility.

Various media outlets alluded to the possibility of a transfer over the past week, after the announcement that James’ coach at USC, Andy Enfield, was leaving the Trojans job to take the head coaching position at SMU. USC, which is joining the Big Ten next season, has since hired Arkansas’ Eric Musselman to replace Enfield. A USC spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

LeBron told reporters after a win over the Raptors on Tuesday that he didn’t know the origin of the reports but said, “[Bronny has] some tough decisions to make, and when he’s ready to make those decisions, he’ll let us all know.”

James appeared in 25 games with the Trojans and scored double-digits three times during his first college season. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. There was uncertainty around whether he would play with the Trojans at all after he suffered cardiac arrest during an offseason workout in July and was hospitalized.

Despite his unspectacular numbers, the rising sophomore is still one of the most high-profile college basketball players because of his NIL value and social media following. On3 values Bronny’s NIL at just under $5 million, the highest in men’s college basketball. Some of his NIL deals include Nike, Beats by Dre and Google, according to On3. He has 7.5 million Instagram followers.

The men’s basketball transfer portal opened on March 18 and closes on May 1. During this time, athletes can announce their intent to leave a school and join a new one. Players can also return to their current institutions and withdraw their names from the portal. Coaches can begin contacting players once their names are officially in the portal.

If James wants to withdraw from the NBA draft and maintain his college eligibility, he must do so by sending an email to the league by May 29. That is the NCAA’s Early Entry withdrawal deadline.

(This article has been updated to correct Bronny James’ age, and in the last paragraph to include the NCAA deadline for him to pull his name from NBA draft consideration.)