Five days after selecting him in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers officially introduced Bronny James on Tuesday.
In doing so, the Lakers’ second-round pick and son of LeBron James revealed that he will be wearing No. 9 to start his NBA career.
Why? As the 19-year-old James revealed, he’s doing so as a tribute to the late rapper Juice WRLD. Juice WRLD — whose real name was Jarad Anthony Higgins — often incorporated “999” into his lyrics and fashion as a message to flip a negative situation (represented by the evil-associated “666” number) into a positive.
“Juice has just been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations that I’ve been through,” Bronny told reporters on Tuesday. “So yeah, just paying homage to him, especially because he passed. That’s a really important thing for me.”
“Juice has been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations I’ve been through.”
Bronny James pays homage to the late Juice WRLD by wearing the #9 for LAL 🪽 pic.twitter.com/DxMzMThEPi
— NBA (@NBA) July 2, 2024
While his famous father has been most associated with the No. 23 — which he currently wears for the Lakers — his oldest son has typically tried to create his own identity with his jersey numbers. After wearing No. 0 throughout his high school career at Sierra Canyon and his father’s previous jersey No. 6 at USC, the younger James will now flip the latter upside down as he prepares to make history as a part of the first father-son duo in NBA history.
[NBA]
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.