The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that Bronny James, the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, will wear the No. 9 jersey in purple and gold. This follows his selection as the team’s newest player.
During his high school career at Sierra Canyon, James wore No. 0 and during his one college season at USC he wore No. 6. However, due to its retirement in honor of Bill Russell, No. 6 is no longer available for use by players in the NBA. His father, LeBron James, currently wears No. 23 for the Lakers.
Bronny is joining a small group of players who have worn the No. 9 jersey for the Lakers, including names such as Nick Van Exel, Matt Barnes, Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo. Van Exel expressed excitement about Bronny adopting his former number.
Another Lakers draft pick, Dalton Knecht, will be wearing the No. 4 jersey after being selected 17th overall out of Tennessee. Knecht’s name pronunciation provides an easy pun: “connect.”
Bronny enters the NBA with a unique opportunity as part of the league’s first on-court father-son duo despite struggling at USC with basketball skills but there is still a lot of potential for him to prove himself on the court .