Bronny James discusses mindset amid LeBron James' uncertain future with Lakers

Everyone knew that LeBron James wanted to play on the same team as his son. Everyone also knew, or at least the right people in Los Angeles knew, that keeping James happy would be one of the keys to keeping him with the Lakers as he looks to wrap up the final seasons of his career.

That's most likely why the Lakers selected Bronny James with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. They'd never admit it, of course, but it fulfilled LeBron's dream and perhaps non-coincidentally, "King James" opted in to the final year of his contract with Los Angeles, which is worth $56.2 million.

The thing is, not everything is sunny in L.A. for the Lakers. LeBron's agent, Rich Paul, was clear that the 21-time All-NBA player would be watching the Lakers' moves earnestly this offseason as he evaluates his future. He also revealed that several teams had contacted him regarding a  trade.

So how's Bronny holding up amidst the uncertainty for his father? Perhaps true to his nature as someone whose had to grow up in the shadow of arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, he's not sweating it.

"Actually, one of my friends called me, talking about where [I was going to play next season], what I was going to do because they saw my dad [in the news]," Bronny explained on Wednesday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "I didn't see it. He called me. I was like, 'Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about.' ...I don't really pay attention to that stuff. There's a lot of stuff going around that I don't pay attention to."

It makes sense that the younger James has elected to keep his head down. His father is one of the most recognizable and famous athletes on the planet, and Bronny has had to shoulder the expectations of being nowhere near the same caliber of player. Heck, some even feel that he doesn't belong on an NBA roster.

Ultimately, though, he is following the guidance of his father.

"I think when stuff like that does come up, he just tells me to not worry about it, to not even pay attention to it [and] just lock into what you have going on right now," Bronny said. "And that's what's going to get me better and to keep me focused. I think it's good that he tells me to not pay attention to that stuff."

Bronny played in 27 games last season for the Lakers, averaging 2.3 points per game in just 6.7 minutes per game. As a member of the South Bay Lakers of the G LEague, he averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 34.2 minutes per contest.

Perhaps there's a big-time NBA player in there somewhere. Bronny did prove to be a star in the G League, but that's basically night and day from being a star in the NBA.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how his future plays out, with or without his father.