LeBron James’ son Bryce James is heading to Arizona, but don’t expect to see him lighting up the scoreboard just yet.
Bryce has decided to redshirt his freshman year. Translation: he’s going to sit, watch, train, and think. Lots of thinking. The official reason is to give Bryce “options” in his career. The unofficial reason? Welcome to the pressure cooker of being LeBron James’ kid.
Redshirting is basically college sports’ version of “I’m not ready to be perceived.” Bryce will still practice with the team, he’ll still lift weights, still get yelled at in practice, but he just won’t play in games. Fans won’t be able to scream hot takes about him on Twitter every night. Honestly, that alone might make this the smartest move of his life.
James has yet to appear in a game for the top-ranked Wildcats this season and coach Tommy Lloyd confirmed on Tuesday the 6-foot-5 guard will redshirt.
“The redshirting decision was just a long play, to give Bryce the most options in his career as his career unfolds,” Lloyd told the Big 12 Network. “I have real strong belief that Bryce will be a contributor at Arizona in the near future. He’s really shown a lot of progress, not only learning our system but just physically maturing.”
James arrived at Arizona as part of a heralded freshman class headlined by Koa Peat and Brayden Burries.
Of course, the internet still has opinions. Some people say he should play right away, others say he’ll never be as good as Bronny. And to some, he’s only there because of his dad. That’s the soundtrack of Bryce James’ life, redshirting turns the volume down.
So for now, Bryce James will sit, he’ll watch, he’ll work and he’ll wait. In today’s sports world, that might be the boldest move of all.
