Bronny James' transformation from afterthought recruit to NBA prospect - ESPN

From four-star prospect to potential lottery pick, how did Bronny James transform himself into a coveted NBA prospect over the course of his high school career?

James announced Saturday afternoon to his 7 million Instagram followers he has committed to play at USC next season, giving coach Andy Enfield a second projected lottery pick for his backcourt to pair with Isaiah Collier, ESPN's No. 1 high school recruit and projected No. 5 pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

A post shared by @bronny

James is coming off an excellent spring on the high school all-star game circuit, confirming his status as a top-shelf prospect at the McDonald's All American and Nike Hoop Summit games, as well as scrimmages leading up to those events.

James wasn't especially highly regarded early in his career, ranked as ESPN's No. 49 recruit in his class entering his junior year at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California. Other recruiting outlets had him ranked even lower, as the consensus at the time was that James had work to do in establishing himself as a surefire high major college player.

Fast forward 18 months and James has shown he is a top-20 player in his class and a potential NBA lottery pick in 2024.

How did James transform himself from an afterthought high school recruit into an NBA prospect over the span of two seasons?

Looking back at photos and footage from summer 2019 and the HoopHall Classic in 2020, it's easy to see how much James has evolved physically: He grew at least two inches while toning and filling out his frame significantly, as expected between ages 14 to 18. He certainly wasn't doing things like this early in his high school career:

Bronny James showing his explosiveness in the open floor at USA Basketball's Nike Hoop