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Nearly three years ago, Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James was an 18-year-old freshman at USC.
During a summer practice with the Trojans, James suffered a cardiac arrest on July 24, 2023.
Fortunately for James, the USC coaching staff and medical team acted quickly and ultimately saved his life.
James was later diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, but he was able to continue his basketball career, playing the first two seasons of his NBA career alongside his father, LeBron James, on the Lakers.
Apr 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) with son Bronny James (9) in the first half against the Houston Rockets during game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena.
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images On Thursday night, LeBron James was recognized as Athlete of the Century at the inaugural Time 100 Sports gala in New York City.
As the three year anniversary of his sons cardiac arrest approaches, LeBron thanked USC for helping save Bronnys life.
Obviously, if it wasnt for the coaching staff and the medical team and everybody at USC being there in a timely fashion, wed possibly be sitting here without our oldest son, James said during his acceptance speech.
So thank you to everybody and all the efforts when it comes to cardiac arrest.
Two Athletes Spoke About Their Experiences With Cardiac Arrest At the event, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Angel City FC defender Savy King shared their experiences with cardiac arrest while playing their sport.
Savy King and Damar Hamlin speak onstage during the Time 100 Sports gala July 16 in New York.
(Jemal Countess / Getty Images for TIME) James added onto what Hamlin and King shared during his acceptance speech.
He advocated for teaching kids how to use devices like an automated external defibrillator.
Guys, take that serious, James said.
If you got kids in elementary, you got kids in middle school, kids in high school, colleges.
Make sure they have these devices available where you can get them, practice them.
Its very important, super, super important.
Obviously, we know how important it is to our family, so were a big advocate of that.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The post LeBron James Honors USC Staff as Bronny James Cardiac Arrest Anniversary Nears appeared first on LA Sports Report .