LeBron James’ son Bronny James is speaking candidly about how his daily life is different one year after he suffered cardiac arrest during practice.
“My days aren’t normal anymore,” he admitted in a Men’s Health profile published Tuesday.
“I still feel like I’m getting back, I’m getting back to where I was.”
The Los Angeles Lakers rookie, 20, also spoke about whether he was concerned about his ability to play again after “the heart incident,” which took place in July 2023.
“At the point when it happened, there were a whole bunch of categories that what had happened could fall under, so yeah,” he said. “There were a whole lot of emotions.”
Bronny said the incident encouraged him to begin to take better care of himself.
“I got real on top of my routines to get back to where I was. I had to do breathing exercises and stuff. It was a total reset,” he shared.
“I have to stay on top of my heart medications, and [pausing to laugh] I got my heart pillow. … When I coughed, it used to hurt a little bit, but you get this pillow, and when you cough you just hold it so it doesn’t hurt.”
Last summer, Bronny suffered cardiac arrest during a basketball practice at the University of Southern California.
The then-18-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he was treated in the intensive care unit before being released to general care, a spokesperson for the James family told Page Six at the time.
In August 2023, a spokesperson for the shooting guard told us in a statement that “the probable cause” of Bronny’s sudden cardiac arrest was identified as “an anatomically and functionally significant congenital heart defect.”
The rep added that Bronny’s condition “can and will be treated,” noting that his family was “very confident” he would make a “full recovery,” which included a “return to basketball in the very near future.”
LeBron, 39, and his wife, Savannah James, recently spoke out about how terrifying the situation was in Netflix’s “Starting 5.”
“I think at the end of the day, it was just about us supporting each other and just being super grateful for the outcome,” the mom of three, 38, tearfully said in the newdocuseries.
The four-time NBA champ added: “Shout-out to the man, above. To the whole coaching staff, training staff, members of that program, thank you so much. They are the reason Bronny is alive now and smiling and thriving and doing what any 19-year-old should be doing, and that’s living out their dream.”
Bronny returned to basketball in December 2023, making his collegiate debut at USC in a game against Long Beach State.
In June, Bronny was selected by the Lakers with the 55th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.
Earlier this month, Bronny and LeBron made NBA history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together on the same team during the Lakers’ preseason game against the Phoenix Suns.
