Staples Center, which is soon to be renamed Crypto.com Arena, has been home to Los Angeles’ biggest sporting events over the last two decades, whether it be Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Kings game and more.
On Saturday night, Staples Center welcomed some of the best high school players in the country with strong ties to Lakers star LeBron James as his former high school St. Vincent-St. Mary from Akron, Ohio, took on Sierra Canyon High School, which is where his son Bronny James plays.
Not only was LeBron in attendance for the Chosen-1’s Challenge, which he hosted, but also his Lakers teammates like Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony for the highly-anticipated matchup.
Similar to his dad on many nights at Staples Center, Bronny stole the show by showing off his complete game to lead Sierra Canyon to a blowout 71-53 victory.
Bronny led the way with a team-high 19 points, hit a couple of deep threes in addition to a dazzling layup that had the Staples Center crowd on their feet:
Star-studded event!
Metta World Peace, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Chris Paul & more.
St Vincent-St Mary | Sierra Canyon pic.twitter.com/KMLFq42tCC
— BasketballBuzz.ca ???????????????? (@basketballbuzz) December 5, 2021
Bronny was showin' off the NBA RANGE in the first half against his dad’s alma mater ???????? pic.twitter.com/LApCUIoGgy
— ESPN (@espn) December 5, 2021
BRONNY. FILTHY MOVE ???? pic.twitter.com/aFRcsPKTLP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 5, 2021
Bronny had a HUGE night at Staples Center against LeBron's alma mater ♨️
⭐ Team-high 19 points
⭐ NBA-range threes
⭐ Showed off the bag ???? pic.twitter.com/fgQAgkkV7o— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 5, 2021
Bronny is now a junior in high school and seems to be coming into his own after dealing with a knee injury almost all of last season.
LeBron has made it clear that he would like to play with Bronny in the NBA, which would take some serious longevity on his part considering he’s already in his 19th season.
It would also take Bronny being good enough to make the NBA though, so it is good to see that he appears to be on track after getting off to a strong start in his junior season at one of high school basketball’s biggest powerhouses.
James has played against two of Bronny’s former teammates
A sign of LeBron’s age is that he’s actually played two of Bronny’s former Sierra Canyon teammates in the NBA this season in Ziaire Williams of the Memphis Grizzlies and Brandon Boston Jr. of the L.A. Clippers, which had to have been a unique experience.
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