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NBA superstar LeBron James is still performing at the highest level at 38. James is known to spend millions to take care of his body to push it harder. This has helped him with his longevity, giving him the desire to play alongside his son in the NBA. LeBron’s oldest son, Bronny James, will finish high school this year and is expected to play college basketball for one year before declaring for the NBA draft. According to various reports, he has already received many college offers. However, it begs the question, is it too much pressure on Bronny? NBA legend Gary Payton recently gave his take.

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 Gary Payton’s advice to LeBron James 

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Gary Payton recently gave an online interview with TMZ Sports, where he answered many interesting questions. During the sitdown, Payton noted that he did not imagine LeBron James would beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s All-Time scoring record because it had stood for so long. He then applauded James’ longevity, how he takes care of his body, and how he performs at 38. The interviewer then asked the 2006 NBA champion about LeBron’s desire to play alongside his son in the NBA and what advice Payton would give to the father and son duo.

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Payton said, “I would tell LeBron let his son be who he is. Just keep supporting as a dad.” He noted the four-time NBA champion cannot judge his son with how he played at his son’s age. Payton also said that he went through something similar when his son Gary Payton II. was growing up. He added, “Don’t put pressure on him, never. Because it’s only one LeBron. It’s only gonna be one Bronny. So don’t put pressure on your son to try to be who you are.”

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The Glove then talked about the advice he used to give to his son. The Seattle SuperSonics legend said he would tell his son not to make any comparisons and try to be himself, whether in college basketball or the NBA.

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Gary Payton II’s NBA journey  

Last year, Gary Payton II won the NBA title with the Golden State Warriors. Even though he is not a superstar, he was an instrumental player for the Warriors in their championship run. However, his journey to the NBA and the subsequent title took work.

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After four years of college basketball, he declared for the 2016 NBA draft and went undrafted. Then in six years, he played for a whopping eight different NBA and G-League teams. He then earned his spot with the Dubs in the 2021-22 season and won the title. Payton II currently plays for the Portland Trail Blazers.

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Bagavathi Eswaran

1,520 Articles

Bagavathi Eswaran is a senior NBA writer at EssentiallySports, having a strong passion for the sport since the age of ten. As a former college player, Bagavathi has been following the NBA for more than a decade and has found his calling in writing about the sport. He has used his expertise in covering the NBA, as well as other arenas of the sport, to write more than 1400 articles at ES. Bagavathi's pieces on the increasingly dominant presence of European basketball and those following the journey of women-ballers are particularly noteworthy. Along with being a full-time writer, he is also a part of a group of young coaches groomed as trainers by Junior NBA. Bagavathi has trained players from schools and colleges, as well as underprivileged students who can attend the camps for free.

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Jayant Chhabra

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