Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James wrapped up his second season in the NBA not too long ago, but there was a real chance he wouldn’t have even been with us today. James suffered a cardiac arrest on July 24, 2023, during a practice session at the University of Southern California.
Thanks to the timely administration of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), James was eventually able to make a full recovery. So, with June being CPR and AED Awareness Month, the 21-year-old shared his story and urged everyone to learn CPR by teaming up with the American Heart Association.
“It was a regular day for me,” James said. “In summer, practicing with the team. Out of nowhere, I sat down for a little bit. Got back up, walked around, and kind of felt a little dizzy, a little nauseous, and then I ended up passing out. Woke up on the practice floor, like, what happened? They told me that my heart had stopped. I needed to get defibrillated, and they brought me back to life.
“But I didn’t know it was something big happening,” James continued. “I’d gone 19 years of my life with no problems. I was in college, in the best shape of my life, so I wasn’t thinking about it at all. And one of the coaching assistants, he was like one of the first guys to run out and got the AED and performed CPR on me.
“I’m alive today because medical staff and my coaches were prepared for the worst, and it ended up saving my life,” James added. “So I’m really appreciative of that. Be ready. Learn CPR.”
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Thanks to the swift action taken by the staff at USC, James was “fully conscious, neurologically intact and stable” when he arrived at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was admitted to the ICU briefly and was announced as stable a day later. He’d be discharged a couple of days after that.
Then, in August, it was revealed that a Congenital Heart Defect had led to James’ cardiac arrest. He was expected to make a full recovery and return to basketball, which is what happened.
James would be cleared to return to basketball in late November and made his USC debut on Dec. 10. He’d end up playing 25 games as a freshman and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game.
James understandably wasn’t anywhere near his best on the court after that medical emergency. He still chose to go pro, and the Lakers selected him with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. James’ father, LeBron James, being on the team unsurprisingly led to allegations of nepotism. The older James recently defended the younger one from the nepotism talk, making it clear he has earned his place.
The 2025-26 season would see James average 2.9 points, 0.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game for the Lakers. He did show improvement as his sophomore campaign progressed, and it’ll be interesting to see how much better he can be next season.
