Doctor provides insight into Bronny's basketball future

Bronny James. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Doctor provides chilling insight into Bronny James' basketball future

By Adam Taylor | Last updated 7/28/23

Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest on Monday. The 18-year-old was attending an informal team workout at USC when an emergency 911 call was registered. A statement that was shared by The Athletic's Shams Charania on Tuesday provided a positive update on Bronny's future.

“We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information,” The statement Charania shared said. “LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”

Basketball will be the furthest thing from James' family's mind right now. However, there is a genuine question as to whether Bronny will be able to continue his journey toward the NBA.

In a recent YouTube video, popular sports doctor, Brian Sutterer, revealed that there's a legitimate chance Bronny doesn't return to competitive basketball.

“There are some causes of cardiac arrest that you find the exact cause, and it still isn’t necessarily safe to return to sports because the risk is so high of having another cardiac arrest and potentially dying,” Sutterer said. “If they don’t find an exact cause and you don’t really know what happened, you have to have that discussion of what exactly are the risks of going back out there and playing. Extremely serious situation we’re dealing with, then legitimately something that affects the rest of his career depending on what we discover and depending on what they have to do about it.”

Bronny recently joined USC after becoming a highly-ranked member of his class, courtesy of an impressive tenure with Sierra Canyon High School. Nevertheless, both Bronny and his family will need to assess the risk factors before deciding on his next steps once he's fully recovered.

LeBron James has been vocal about his desire to play alongside Bronny in the NBA, and many believe he's yet to retire so he can fulfill his final goal.

If Bronny is deemed unable to continue with his basketball journey, that could potentially spell the end of LeBron's time in the league. LeBron has committed to playing the upcoming season for the Los Angeles Lakers and given his track record of honoring his contracts, is unlikely to renege on his decision.

What happens after the 2023-24 season is over, though, may be contingent on Bronny's ability to make the jump to the NBA.

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