Bronny James Being Pursued By Foreign Professional League

Bronny James might want to update his passport because he might have a shot at playing basketball overseas.

LeBron James' oldest son is a four star recruit in the top 50 players in the class of 2023. It's believed USC, Oregon and Ohio State are the three programs leading the way for his services. He could also go to the G-League before entering the NBA draft.

However, a new option has presented itself. NBL, Australia's top basketball, owner Larry Kestelman is attempting to bring Bronny to the land of kangaroos, surfing and great weather.

Bronny James will have options.

"We have absolutely reached out and there’s the start of a conversation but it’s very early days," Kestelman told News Corp, according to the Herald Sun.

Not only does the NBL want to add Bronny James, but Kestelman is leaving the door wide open for adding his dad to the league.

"It would be incredible to see, not just him, but I know there was a conversation about him and LeBron playing one season together. It’s a long shot, but the conversation has begun and we’ll be in the mix," Kestelman further explained.

Is it time for a bit of a reality check?

While Bronny James is a four star recruit and has some potential, he's not even close to being good enough to play overseas. Not at all.

The 6'3" Sierra Canyon guard might not even be good enough to start on some top 10 college basketball teams right now. For those of you who don't follow foreign basketball, the top teams overseas would boat race college teams. We're talking about grown men playing teenagers.

We also have some examples to draw on. Brandon Jennings was a five star recruit and a top 10 player in America coming out of high school in 2008, and instead of playing in college, he went to Italy. For the most part, he made little impact and wasn't able to handle the physically demanding nature of European basketball at such a young age.

He averaged just 5.5 points a game in Italian league games and shot an abysmal 20.7% from the field, and he was SUBSTANTIALLY more talented than Bronny James at the same age.

Jennings isn't the only example of how poorly American high school stars translate to the foreign game. Jeremy Tyler was another five star player that landed in Israel over playing in college, and he went after his junior year in high school.

He didn't even make it a full season before Maccabi Haifa sent him packing. He went on to be an NBA draft pick and was a much better prospect than Bronny James.

Australia's top pro league is full of outstanding players. Again, we're talking grown men against teenagers. It'd be one thing if we're talking about a prospect like Zion Williamson or even his dad back in 2003. Even Terrance Ferguson, another five star coming out of high school, averaged less than five points a game in Australia back in 2016-2017. The best example of success is Emmanuel Mudiay's short career in China. Other than that, it's insanely rare for an American prep player to make much of an impact overseas.

However, there's always room for disagreement on this issue. A friend of mine who has spent more than a decade playing basketball at incredibly high levels overseas told me he thinks Bronny could play right now in Europe for marketing reasons alone. From a talent perspective, he thinks Bronny could get minutes, outside of perhaps the really top teams, right now, but wouldn't dominate on any of them.

Bronny James is simply too small and raw right now to compete against top pros anywhere in the world. He would be best served by going to the G League or college for at least a couple years.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.