Bronny James is staying in the NBA draft, agent Rich Paul announces

Bronny James is keeping his name in the NBA draft, with the hopes of joining his father in the league next season.

"He’s a really good prospect who has a lot of room for growth," Rich Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports Group, told ESPN, which first reported the decision. Paul later confirmed the decision to The Associated Press.

LeBron James, Bronny's father and the NBA's all-time scoring leader, posted his reaction on his social media accounts, including one Instagram story that had the simple caption: “BRONNY STAYING IN DRAFT!” The decision was not unexpected, given that Bronny James had given no sign in recent weeks that he would exercise his option of returning to college and postponing his NBA plans.

Bronny James played one year of college basketball at Southern California and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season. He played in 25 games, missing the start of the season after needing a procedure last year to fix what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defect, which was found after he went into cardiac arrest during a summer workout.