LeBron James denies reports that son Bronny may transfer from USC

LeBron James has denied reports suggesting that his Bronny is set to transfer from USC after just a single season, despite admitting that the 19-year-old, freshman has some 'tough decisions' to make this spring.

Speaking to reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers' 128-111 win over the Toronto Raptors, James offered nothing but support to his eldest son after veteran college basketball writer Dick Weiss hinted at a potential change of scenery for Bronny in a now-deleted post on social media.

'I don't know where [the reports] came from but at the end of the day, Bronny is his own man and he has some tough decision to make... As his family we gonna support whatever he does,' James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin after his 23-point and nine assists performance on Tuesday.

Earlier in the same evening, Weiss shared on X: 'USC freshman guard Bronny James is entering the transfer portal. good for him. needs to get away from the Hollywood hype. best of luck to LeBron's kid.'

He later retracted his comments: 'can't confirm Bronny James story guys. still think its an idea whose time has come. make sense it happens. I love the kid, think he could be a star elsewhere.'

Weiss - a National Sportswriters Hall of Fame member who previously covered college hoops for the New York Daily News for over two decades - also reposted a claim that Duke, Ohio State, UCLA, Xavier, and Rutgers are favorites to recruit the son of the most popular basketball player on the planet. 

Duquesne - the team that James rooted for at this year's NCAA men's tournament - is also in the running to land Bronny. Back in 2022, the Dukes tried recruiting James' youngest son, Bryce, at just age 15 by giving him a Division I college scholarship.

Bronny's potential USC exit would follow former Trojans head coach Andy Enfield's departure for SMU after the latter was hired by the Mustangs on Monday. Enfield was the Trojans' head coach for the last 11 years but failed to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 this past season. 

In his only season playing for Southern California, so far, Bronny has appeared in 25 games with six states, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his 19.4 minutes per game. 

Bronny missed the first eight games of his true freshman season after suffering from a sudden cardiac arrest in early July during the Trojans' offseason workouts. 

Playing on a minutes restriction to start off his college career, he scored four points, as well as two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a chase-down block reminiscent of his father in his first game against Long Beach State on December 10. He played 16 minutes in that game as the Trojans were stunned, 84-79.

Bronny would then go on to make his first career start against Colorado on January 13. He then started three consecutive Pac-12 games before coming off the bench in USC's next two matchups. He was reinstated into USC's starting five for three more games after that before coming back off the bench for the remainder of the season.