LeBron says Bronny's USC debut to take precedence over Lakers game - ESPN

OKLAHOMA CITY — LeBron James is so excited to see eldest son Bronny make his college basketball debut that the Los Angeles Lakers will have to take a backseat to the USC Trojans if it comes to that.

«Whenever he's cleared and ready to have his first game, I already told my teammates that if they play on the same day we're playing, I'm going to have to catch them the next game,» James said after the Lakers' 133-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. «Family over everything… But definitely got to see Bronny's first game whenever he's cleared and ready to go.»

The Lakers finished their road trip 2-2 with the loss, blowing an early 14-point lead in the process, but it was hard to dim James' spirit on the day it was announced that Bronny was cleared by doctors for a full return to basketball with USC.

The 19-year-old freshman, who suffered cardiac arrest during a team workout in July and underwent successful surgery to repair what the James family referred to as a likely congenital heart defect, has yet to appear in a game for the 5-2 Trojans.

Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell jokingly groaned in dismay when James revealed the possibility of missing a Lakers game to see his son debut. However, Davis told reporters afterward that the two team captains discussed the plan on a recent team flight and that the 38-year-old has the full support of the locker room.

Bronny will have a final evaluation by the USC staff this week, begin practicing next week and return to games soon after, a James family spokesperson said in a statement Thursday.

There are a handful of upcoming dates in the next two months when the teams' schedules overlap:

Dec. 28 — Lakers vs. Charlotte Hornets; USC at Oregon

Dec. 30 — Lakers at