SUMMARY
- The NCAA requires Bronny James to make an official decision for the 2024 NBA Draft before the May 29th deadline.
- The 19-year-old will not be able to retain college eligibility after May 29.
In early April, Bronny James announced that he plans on entering the 2024 NBA Draft. It was a tough journey leading up to his official college debut which took place in December 2023. However, Bronny barely lived up to the hype he created while he was playing for Sierra Canyon or the AAU. Most experts and recruits believe James should spend some more time at the college level before going pro.
There is one major reason why Bronny hasn’t be able to perform well and that is because of the health scare he had last year. The former USC guard suffered from a congenital heart defect. As a result, he went through a cardiac arrest while practicing with his team at USC’s Galen Center. James had to undergo surgery to fix the issue and that by itself kept him away from competing with the Trojans at the beginning of the 2023-24 season.
Bronny James is at risk of losing his college eligibility
Male basketball athletes tend to face a lot more trouble since they’re allowed to declare for the NBA Draft at the age of 19. Most of them would only be required to complete a year in college before going pro. Some athletes stay in college for four years, develop their game to its highest form, and then go pro. While staying in college is the ideal thing to do, going pro at 19 also means being trained alongside elite professionals, especially in the NBA.
The NBA announced that USC guard Bronny James and 195 total players have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2024. Under NCAA rules, in order to retain college basketball eligibility,
college players who have entered NBA Draft 2024 must withdraw by May 29.— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 30, 2024
However, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors usually have to forego their college eligibility to attain professional status. And they’re usually given some time ahead of the draft to retain their eligibility and compete in their remaining years in college. Recently, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears reported that Bronny James will have time until May 29, 2024, to withdraw his name from the 2024 NBA Draft. Otherwise, he will lose eligibility to compete in college.
Bronny James is torn between the NBA and college basketball
After LeBron James and the LA Lakers lost against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the 4x NBA Champion’s comments suggested that Bronny James might be torn between retaining his college eligibility and joining the league. He said, “I just want to get home to the family, honestly. Started looking at the schedule, I got one of my boys just trying to decide if he’s going to enter the draft or go back to school.”
The Lakers have already shown interest in opening up a spot for Bronny James in case he chooses to compete in the draft. This is obviously to help LeBron fulfill his lifelong dream of playing alongside Bronny in the NBA. Bronny will be able to go through the draft combine. However, the NCAA expects him to make a decision within 10 days after the combine ends, which is on May 19.