Hawks star reacts to possibly teaming up with LeBron, Bronny James

The 18-year-old James still has at least one season to play at USC before making any possible jump to the NBA. He'll start his college basketball career with the Trojans later this year.

The four-time NBA MVP surprised analysts and fans alike following the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs in May when he said he would consider retirement this offseason. The 38-year-old James has been saying for months, if not years, that he plans to stay in the league until he can share an NBA court with Bronny.

As he approached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record this past winter, James went as far as to say that he planned to play for "at least a few more years."

Even as his Lakers got swept by the eventual-champion Nuggets, the elder James was as stellar as ever in the series-clinching loss in Game 4. He posted a game-high 40 points (31 in the first half) and team-high nine assists (against just one turnover), while adding 10 rebounds and shooting an efficient 15-for-25 from the field (including 4-for-7 on three-pointers), nearly willing L.A. to a victory.

The 19-time All-Star played all but the final seconds of the first half and was on the court for the entire second half as well. While James struggled from beyond the arc in the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, he still averaged a near-triple-double against Nikola Jokic and company, registering 27.8 points, 10 assists and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Young is the face of the Hawks franchise, already collecting two All-Star honors and a Third-Team All-NBA nod in his first five seasons. The 24-year-old led Atlanta in points (26.2) and assists (10.2) per game during the 2022-23 campaign, as he's done every year since his second season in the league.