LeBron James seems like the AAU dad that no one can get under control. He was hyped up watching his son LeBron James Jr. (a.k.a. “Bronny”) during a recent matchup in Indiana.
Bronny was playing against one of the nation’s top recruits in Emoni Bates, who was recently featured in an article which wondered if he was the best recruit since LeBron Sr. Thus, the game drew significant national attention. At one point, Bronny drilled a fadeaway jumper, which came with a foul. Cheers came from the sideline, but no one was louder than LeBron, who walked on the court, flexing and screaming, “That’s my boy.”
Good luck getting that AAU dad to stay on the sidelines.
Bates finished with 43 points in the loss to Bronny’s squad, according to The Athletic’s Bill Landis. Bronny had 12 points while distributing well to his supporting cast.
The Athletic’s Landis did a nice job describing the scene for this AAU tournament, which featured so much superpower and hype between Bates, the top freshman prospect in the country, and the LeBrons. Here’s some of what Landis wrote:
If you envisioned LeBron as helicopter coaching and spending most of his time on the team’s bench, it’s not quite that. But it’s close. He has thoughts, and he’ll share them with players, coaches and officials. His frantic pacing in the corner sometimes leads him to either take a few steps onto the court or lean into the bench to briefly offer a tip or two to one of the players. But he mostly sticks to his spot in the corner in this game.
Except, of course, when his son drills a shot. Then LeBron Sr. lost his mind as if he just nailed a playoff buzzer-beater.
