USC Basketball: LeBron James Reveals Timeline For Determining Bronny James' Season Outlook

After committing to play at USC in May 2023, freshman Trojans guard Bronny James served as yet another spark in the Trojans basketball program.

JuJu Watkins and Isaiah Collier, the top women's and men's basketball recruits in the 2023 class, had already committed to playing for the Trojans. Bronny, the No. 19 overall recruit, would only add to the promise of the USC freshman men's class.

During an offseason workout in July, Bronny suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital. The cause of Bronny's medical episode was "an anatomically and functionally significant Congenital Heart Defect," according to a statement to People from a James family spokesperson.

Life became a whole lot bigger than basketball for Bronny, his family and the basketball world as a whole as they eagerly awaited to see if the oldest son of Lakers star LeBron James would be alright.

Bronny has since had heart surgery, and it is undetermined when or if the 19-year-old will return to the court.

According to ESPN NBA reporter Dave McMenamin, LeBron James said that Bronny will get a "check-up" at the end of November. If he's cleared, he will begin practicing with "the intention to return to game action" this season.

The update provides little substantial evidence that might determine when Bronny will actually return to game shape.

USC center Vincent Iwuchukwu suffered cardiac on the practice court almost exactly a year before Bronny due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is usually caused by changes in genes that cause the heart muscle to thicken and block blood flow. 

Iwuchukwu returned to a game in January 2023, almost six months after the incident.

In both cases, the proper use of CPR and the deployment of a defibrillator saved Bronny and Vincent's lives. A quick tutorial on how to use an AED can be found here.

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