EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Bronny James seems to realize that the wildest part of LeBron James' decision to change teams before his 24th NBA season is the fact he left his son behind to do it.
Bronny is still with the Los Angeles Lakers after his 41-year-old father's departure for the Philadelphia 76ers. The younger James enters his third NBA season this week still working to win a rotation role with the team that drafted him in 2024 in the family's adopted hometown.
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for picture during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for pictures with NBA photographer Adam Pantozzi during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for pictures with NBA photographer Adam Pantozzi during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for pictures with NBA photographer Adam Pantozzi during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Bronny and LeBron spent the past two seasons as the NBA's first father-son teammates, an achievement LeBron said was comparable to any of his championship rings. But the top scorer in league history decided his hunger for another title was greater than his desire to stay by Bronny's side.
In his first extensive public comments on this unusual situation Monday, Bronny confirmed he isn't the least bit angry or disappointed by his dad's departure.
He's already well aware that when your father is LeBron James, many things are bigger than you.
“Happy for him, and excited for where their season goes,” Bronny said. “I’m excited to see him on Christmas, excited to play against him on Christmas. It’s going to be good.”
The 76ers visit the Lakers on Dec. 25.
While LeBron’s enthusiasm for being an engaged father to his three children is well-documented, Bronny said he didn't have extensive discussions with his father about the move.
“We’re men of very little words when it comes to talking about business and what we’re going to do and how we feel about each other,” Bronny said with a smile. “It wasn’t really much, to be honest with you. He’s got his own path and I’ve got my own, so he knows that I want to make a name for myself and want to continue my career and keep growing as a player, and he knows I’ll want to focus on that, so he decided to (move).”
And while LeBron meets his new teammates and settles into Philadelphia this week, his son is getting back to work with the Lakers. LeBron won't be a constant presence in the locker room and on the road to dispense guidance and leadership to his son — and he won't be around for Bronny's 22nd birthday next week, either.
That's all fine for Bronny, who wasn't fazed while he went through his first Lakers media day without his father's massive presence and booming voice nearby.
“Feels like he’s not here,” Bronny said at the Lakers' training complex. “I don’t really have an opinion on that. That’s my dad. I’ve spent almost 22 years with him, so just another experience that I’m going to be a part of, and I’m excited how it’s going to feel during the season. So I’m looking forward to it.”
LeBron said this week that he left the Lakers to chase his fifth championship ring. The unspoken part of that declaration is James’ apparent belief he’s closer to a title in Philadelphia than in Los Angeles, where his Lakers won just one playoff round in the past three seasons.
But Bronny is optimistic about the Lakers' chances to build an exciting — and pointedly younger — core around NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and prolific guard Austin Reaves. New center Walker Kessler should be a sharp upgrade under the opponents' basket and on lob finishes, and he's just one of nine new players hoping to win roles with Los Angeles.
“Everyone is young, so there’s a lot of energy flowing around, and I think we feed off each other,” Bronny said. “I don’t know yet, because we haven’t played a game, but because we’re young and we’re finding a way to get close to each other, I think we can feed off each other’s energy. There’s going to be a lot of guys that can go out and give full effort, turn up the game, and we can probably play fast because of how young we are. … We have a good chance of making it far.”
LeBron ended this family partnership right when Bronny appeared to be on the verge of breaking through to a regular role. Bronny played regularly down the stretch last season and into the playoffs while Doncic and Reaves were sidelined by injury, teaming up with his father for significant minutes in the Lakers' first-round upset of the Houston Rockets.
Bronny wants to continue his growth as a secondary ballhandler and a point-of-attack defender, two roles in which he excelled for long stretches last spring. His father won't be around for tips and critiques, but Bronny is ready to figure out some things on his own — and with ample help from his teammates and coaches, of course.
“I think I did play my role pretty well in the Houston series, and that’s something I can grow off of,” Bronny said. “Showing up every day and playing my game and being relentless both sides of the floor and making sure I’m getting my teammates involved and disrupting on the defensive end of the floor.”
See AP’s full NBA coverage here
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for picture during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for pictures with NBA photographer Adam Pantozzi during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for pictures with NBA photographer Adam Pantozzi during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James poses for pictures with NBA photographer Adam Pantozzi during media day Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Iran's Revolutionary Guard urged Americans in a message ahead of U.S. midterm elections to take to the streets and rally against Donald Trump, claiming the U.S. president's war in the Middle East has failed.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, settlers rioted, throwing rocks, blocking roads and setting Palestinian property on fire to prevent a Palestinian man escorted by the Israeli military from returning to his home in the village of Jalud.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Tuesday. Full coverage is available here.
Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, held a news conference in Tehran, Iran's capital, on Tuesday and read from what he said was a “letter to the American people.”
Reading from the prepared text, he said that the only way for the war to end is for Washington to admit defeat and leave. The message was apparently meant for the U.S. public just weeks ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections for the U.S. Senate and Congress — a vote in which Trump’s Republican Party faces fierce headwinds as it looks to maintain control of Congress.
Later, in remarks to The Associated Press, Mohebbi urged Americans to take to the streets and protest Trump's policies to denounce what he called the U.S. government’s war-mongering policies.
Mohebbi also said Americans should “revise their decision” about their leaders.
He accused the United States of using Iran’s nuclear program as a ruse to “plunder Iran’s wealth” and to turn the country “back into a colony.” The U.S. military action and economic sanctions would not get Tehran to submit.
Meanwhile, Iran’s currency fell to a new record low Tuesday, with traders in Tehran exchanging more than 2.5 million rials to the U.S. dollar, a sign of how the conflict has further eroded Iran's economy.
The decline came after the rial hit its previous record low of 2.2 million to the dollar on Sept. 2. The currency has repeatedly reached new lows since the war began in February.
Over a hundred Israeli settlers scuffled with Israeli soldiers who were trying to escort a Palestinian man to his home in the West Bank village of Jalud.
The homeowner, Mahmoud Tubasi, told the AP that the soldiers initially brought him to his home but that rioting settlers forced him to leave with his family in a military vehicle. He said he still can't access the house, which settlers have besieged for two months.
Israel’s military acknowledged that the overnight mission to return the family “was not completed” and that three officers were injured by settlers who threw rocks, blocked roads and set Palestinian property on fire.
Israeli police said they arrested three settlers suspected of participating in the riot, which was condemned by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gidon Saar and President Isaac Herzog.
The Israeli military has struggled to quell the latest wave of settler violence. Rights groups have accused the military of colluding with the settlers.
An Israeli strike on an apartment west of Gaza City killed two people, including a Hamas commander who the Israeli military said was involved in plotting attacks and recruiting new members for the militant group.
Al-Shifa Hospital officials said Tuesday the strike also wounded five others.
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the overnight strike targeted Izz al-Din Bik, a commander in the Hamas militant group’s northern Gaza brigade.
Hamas confirmed the death of al-Bik, claiming in a statement he was one of the main overseers of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel, which killed over 1,200 and prompted the war in Gaza.
More than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire took effect nearly a year ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, while over 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The ministry maintains detailed records that are generally seen as reliable. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half of the fatalities.
A mass funeral was held Tuesday in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp for nearly 50 people killed during the war.
The remains, wrapped in white bags and draped with Palestinian flags, were recovered last week from the rubble of buildings destroyed almost three years ago.
Mass funerals have become more common in Gaza, where Israel has not allowed the heavy machinery needed to clear the rubble of destroyed buildings and recover the dead.
Earlier this month, the United Nations estimated that more than 8,000 bodies remain buried under the debris.
For some, partial remains were all they had to bury.
Areej Farajallah said two of her husband’s bones were found last week. She is also mourning her child, who was among those buried Tuesday.
Abdel-Nasser al-Tawil said his home was hit Oct. 15, 2023, in the early days of the war. He said he recovered 13 bodies Tuesday with the help of the Red Cross and Palestinian Civil Defense workers ahead of the funeral.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
An Iranian missile is displayed under the country's national flag in a military exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war at Baharestan Square, in Tehran, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian missiles and banners showing portraits of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, center, and the late armed forces commanders and nuclear scientists, who were killed in Israel and U.S. strikes, are displayed in a military exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war at Baharestan Square, in Tehran, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A crow sits on a drone displayed in a military exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war at Baharestan Square, in Tehran, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
This image taken from video released by Al-Masirah TV, a channel run by Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, shows what the channel said were Houthi fighters and local residents searching through the rubble of a house following a strike by Saudi-backed forces in the town of Kadhah, in Taiz province, Yemen. (Al-Masirah TV via AP)
Iran's Revolutionary Guard spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
