NBA scout ranks Bronny James as 17th best player in McDonald’s All-American Game

Though LeBron James’ eldest son Bronny is an exciting basketball prospect, there remains a lot of debate regarding how bright his future in the sport actually will be.

At one point, there were many who doubted that the younger James would ever make it to the NBA. Now, his future in the league seems much more realistic. In fact, he was recently projected to be a top-10 pick in ESPN’s mock 2024 NBA Draft.

Still, that does not mean that he does not have his critics. One NBA scout recently stated that the younger James is the 17th-best player in the upcoming McDonald’s All-American Game. As 24 total players take part in the game, the younger James’ rank at 17 would put him near the bottom of the bunch.

“When I asked one NBA scout to rank the players from 1-24, he had James at No. 17,” Tobias Bass of The Athletic wrote. “There remains considerable speculation about James’ future — at No. 35 in the Class of 2023 per the 247Sports Composite, he’s the top uncommitted prospect in the country. But James sat out Monday’s media day, so no insight was able to be gathered from what he said in that setting.”

Despite the relatively low rank, the younger James has to be happy to even be a part of the annual game. Many of the league’s biggest names first gained national recognition during the McDonald’s All-American Game.

It must be really exciting for the entire James family for the younger James to garner such serious recognition in his own right. For years, there was a belief that the talented teen was really only getting attention because of his superstar father. Now, it appears clear that he has what it takes to build on his father’s incredible basketball legacy.

The younger James has been listed as a four-star prospect for quite some time, but he was listed as a five-star prospect by On3 earlier this month. He was listed by the recruiting site as the No. 9-ranked prospect in the country for his class.

At the moment, the younger James is listed at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds. While those measurements are somewhat slight compared to his father’s, they still put him well within the range for NBA point guards.

His strong shooting and playmaking ability paired with his high basketball IQ will surely allow him to enjoy a lot of success at both the collegiate and professional level.

For years, the elder James has made it clear that teaming up with his son in the NBA is one of his greatest goals. That goal is looking a distinct reality these days more than it ever has before.

Once the younger James progresses past high school and starts competing with even better competition, it will be really interesting to see how his game progresses.