Report: Sons of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade to team up at California high school
Dwyane Wade’s post-retirement plan includes relocating to Los Angeles to be closer to the acting career of his wife Gabrielle Union. That means more time with close friend and Lakers forward LeBron James.
It also means Wade’s oldest son, Zaire, is going to be spending more time with James’ oldest son, LeBron Jr. (known as Bronny). According to Tarek Fattal from the Los Angeles Daily News, Zaire and Bronny are expected to play together on the Sierra Canyon High School (California) boys basketball team next season.
Zaire, who played his junior season at Plantation American Heritage, is an incoming senior. He’s listed at 6-2 and 175 pounds and has college offers from Nebraska and DePaul, according to 247Sports.
Bronny, who will be a freshman next season, is listed at 5-10 and 150 pounds by 247Sports but has since surpassed the 6-foot mark. He reportedly already holds offers from Duke and Kentucky.
Both Zaire and Bronny hope to reach the NBA just like their fathers, and the potential to make that goal a reality seems to be there.
Zaire had good moments last summer playing for Each 1 Teach 1, one of Nike’s perennially most-talented teams, in the Elite Youth Basketball League. He scored on Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. in a pickup game.
Zaire averaged 9.1 points, 6.1 assists and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 57.2 percent from the field and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line while playing in the Elite Youth Basketball League last summer.
For Bronny, he’s just now starting to be evaluated at a higher level as he prepares for his freshman year of high school. He took part in the Nike EYBL event in Indianapolis earlier this month and impressed, playing up a year and getting a chance to go up against some of the country’s top high school freshmen.
“James showed impressive feel for the game and incredible poise for his age,” Evan Daniels from 247Sports wrote of Bronny’s showing in the event. “He was unphased by the circus-like environment around him. James has a smooth shooting stroke from three, competed on both ends and played with energy. He finished with 11 points and his team left with a double-digit victory.
“The idea of projecting a rising freshman is difficult, and ultimately James’ continued skill development and physical growth will determine where he ends up, but at this stage the 2023 guard is tracking as a future high major prospect.”
Their fathers played four seasons together in Miami, with Wade and James leading the Heat to four NBA Finals appearances and two NBA championships in 2012 and 2013. Wade eventually joined James again, this time in Cleveland, for part of a season before Wade was traded to the Heat in the middle of 2017-18.
Wade, 37, averaged 15 points on 43.3 percent shooting in a sixth-man role with the Heat this past season, which marked his 16th and final NBA season. He has split his time mostly between Miami and Los Angeles since his playing career came to an end in April.
Just days after playing in his final NBA game, as a surprise to those working within the Heat organization, Wade addressed the entire staff during a meeting and then took individual photos with employees and signed autographs.
In his first week of retirement, Wade also got a tattoo that takes up most of his left thigh. It reads, “My Belief is Strong3r than your Doubt,” which is a quote Wade used throughout his 16-year NBA career.
Wade made it clear one of the things he was most looked forward to about retirement was having the time to help Zaire achieve his basketball dreams.
“Next year, we’re going to get real close,” Wade said in February. “I’m going to spend a lot of time with him, but not in an overbearing way. I’m going to support his dreams. I know his dream is to sit right here in this circle where I’m sitting one day. I’m going to do everything I can to make that dream a reality for him.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 8:38 AM.
