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LeBron James spent Friday night watching the Boston Celtics beat his new team, the Philadelphia 76ers, 123–101. His younger son, Bryce James, spent the same evening watching from the bench as Arizona beat Auburn 80–69 without playing a single minute. It was a strange split screen for the most famous family in basketball: the father adjusting to a new franchise at 41, the son adjusting to a smaller role than the one he started the season with.
Bryce James is the 19-year-old shooting guard trying to build a college career under a surname that guarantees every box score gets read twice. He started Arizona’s first three games of the 2026–27 season, then lost his place in the starting five to JJ Mandaquit for the Auburn trip — and never left the bench. His head coach, Tommy Lloyd, insisted afterwards that the demotion was tactical, not terminal. The numbers, the family context and the long road to this point tell a more complete story than one quiet night in Alabama.
Bryce James — Quick Reference Profile
| Full name | Bryce Maximus James |
| Date of birth | 14 June 2007 (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA) |
| Age | 19 years old |
| Height / weight | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) listed by Arizona; 195 lb (88 kg). Some recruiting listings gave 6 ft 4 in. |
| Position | Shooting guard, No. 6, Arizona Wildcats (Big 12 Conference) |
| High school | Sierra Canyon School, Los Angeles, California |
| College | University of Arizona (committed 1 January 2025; signed 17 April 2025; redshirted 2025–26) |
| Famous anchor | Younger son of LeBron James and Savannah James; younger brother of Bronny James (Los Angeles Lakers) |
| Net worth | Not publicly verified |
| NIL | Signed a name, image and likeness deal with Klutch Sports in December 2022 |
| Social media | Handles not publicly verified |
Growing Up as LeBron James’s Younger Son
Bryce Maximus James was born on 14 June 2007 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, while his father was playing in the NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is the second of three children born to LeBron James and Savannah James, between older brother Bronny, born in October 2004, and younger sister Zhuri, born in October 2014.
That birth order has shaped everything about his public life. Bronny carried the “next LeBron” label first, and Bryce grew up in the slipstream — the younger brother whose game was described, from his early teens, as the smoother shooting stroke of the two. LeBron himself has said more than once that Bryce was the better shooter in the family, a line that follows the teenager everywhere.
The family moved with LeBron’s career: Cleveland, Miami, back to Cleveland, then Los Angeles in 2018. Bryce spent his school years in Los Angeles, where the James children attended the private Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth — a campus that became a magnet for celebrity basketball families and nationally televised high-school games. Like another athlete’s son finding his own path, Bryce had to build an identity beyond his father’s name.
Sierra Canyon, Three Transfers and the Road to Arizona
Bryce’s high-school career was less settled than his brother’s. He started at Sierra Canyon, then left ahead of his junior year for Campbell Hall School in the summer of 2023. That stay lasted only a few months: on 10 August 2023 he announced a move to Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, and on 21 November 2023 he transferred back to Sierra Canyon, where he finished his school career.
The moves drew the usual commentary about a famous teenager being shuttled between programmes, but the basketball record is straightforward. Bryce was a three-star recruit, ranked around No. 220 by Rivals and No. 284 in the 247Sports composite for the 2025 class — a solid college prospect, not the five-star billing his surname might have suggested.
His college choice came down to three schools: Ohio State, Duquesne and Arizona. Duquesne’s interest was personal — the Dukes were coached by Dru Joyce III, LeBron’s former high-school team-mate — but on 1 January 2025 Bryce announced his commitment to the University of Arizona, to play for Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats. He signed formally on 17 April 2025.
A Redshirt Year, Then a Debut Three Years in the Making
Bryce did not play in the 2025–26 season. He redshirted his freshman year, practising with a Wildcats side that reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, and waited for his turn. That patience is part of the story: unlike Bronny, who went straight into the rotation at USC, Bryce spent a full year developing out of the spotlight.
His moment finally came on Monday 2 November 2026, when he made his college debut against UCLA and played six minutes. Three days later, on Thursday 5 November, he scored his first college points against Cal Poly — five points, with two assists and two steals. Lloyd kept him in the starting five for the first three games, praising his growth beyond scoring even as the points stayed modest.
The highlight of the young season arrived on Tuesday 10 November against Northern Arizona. In 13 minutes Bryce scored three points, added two assists, two steals and a block — an emphatic at-rim denial that went viral overnight. His father reshared the block on Instagram with the caption “1% everyday”, a small public show of pride — a father publicly backing his son after a big moment — on a night when LeBron’s own team had lost to Boston.
Benched at Auburn: What Tommy Lloyd Actually Said
The mood changed on Friday 13 November at Auburn. Lloyd changed the starting lineup, giving JJ Mandaquit the start in Bryce’s place, and tightened the rotation to eight players. Arizona won 80–69, with 76 of their 80 points coming from the starters — and Bryce did not play at all.
Lloyd addressed the decision directly afterwards. “Bryce and I had a great conversation,” he said, adding: “I wish I would have got him in the game. It just got tight there and we got the lead, it’s just one of those things when you get the lead playing a certain way, sometimes it’s hard to thrust a guy into that moment when he hasn’t been on the court much.”
The numbers explain the coach’s caution. Through his first three appearances Bryce was averaging 2.7 points, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals in about 12 minutes a game, shooting 3-for-11 from the field and 2-for-7 from three-point range. He sits eighth on the team in minutes but third in steals and tied for fourth in assists — a defender and connector, not yet a scorer.
Lloyd has also said the bench will need to develop over the season, and the schedule gives Bryce a quick chance to answer: Arizona host the No. 4 UConn Huskies on Wednesday 18 November, a major early-season test in Tucson.
The James Family in Three Cities
Bryce’s season is unfolding against a remarkable family reshuffle. In the summer of 2026 LeBron left the Los Angeles Lakers after eight years and joined the Philadelphia 76ers, a move that scattered the family across the map. Savannah James, 40, described the adjustment on the 3 November episode of Keke Palmer’s podcast, saying the family now juggles Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia — with Bryce’s season in Tucson, Arizona, adding a fourth stop.
Bronny, 22, stayed in Los Angeles with the Lakers. Zhuri, 12, stayed in Los Angeles for school and volleyball. LeBron, 41, lives in New York and commutes to Philadelphia. Savannah has called New York the family hub and herself the person holding it together, travelling between the cities to watch her sons play.
For Bryce, that means his biggest supporter is often watching from a distance — and, on nights like the Auburn game, watching him not play at all. It is the least glamorous part of a famous sporting family: the work of earning minutes that no surname can buy.
Money, NIL Deals and What Is Not Public
Bryce signed a name, image and likeness contract with Klutch Sports in December 2022, when he was 15 — an unusually early deal, arranged through the agency that represents his father. No reliable public source has published the value of that deal, and no credible estimate of Bryce’s personal net worth exists.
That distinction matters. Figures circulating online for young athletes in his position are guesses built on other people’s contracts, not on disclosed earnings. His public financial record begins and ends with the Klutch deal itself, and everything else about his money is not publicly verified.
The same caution applies to his social media presence. Bryce keeps a low public profile off the court, and no verified handle with a confirmed following has been published by a reliable source. What can be said with confidence is that his basketball, not his posting, is what has put him in the news this week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is Bryce James?
A: Bryce James is a 19-year-old college basketball player for the Arizona Wildcats and the younger son of NBA star LeBron James and Savannah James.
Q: How old is Bryce James?
A: He was born on 14 June 2007 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, making him 19 years old.
Q: Why was Bryce James benched against Auburn?
A: Coach Tommy Lloyd replaced him in the starting five with JJ Mandaquit for the 13 November 2026 game at Auburn and tightened the rotation to eight players. Lloyd said he had a good conversation with Bryce and wished he had found minutes for him, but the game stayed tight and Arizona held their lead.
Q: What are Bryce James’s stats this season?
A: Through his first three appearances he averaged 2.7 points, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals in about 12 minutes per game, shooting 3-for-11 from the field.
Q: Is Bryce James better than Bronny James?
A: LeBron has said Bryce is the better shooter of the two, but their games differ: Bronny is an NBA guard with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Bryce is a 19-year-old college freshman finding his role at Arizona. Any direct comparison this early is premature.
Q: What is Bryce James’s net worth?
A: Not publicly verified. He signed an NIL deal with Klutch Sports in December 2022, but no reliable source has published its value or an estimate of his personal wealth.
Myths and Facts
Myth: Bryce James is already an NBA prospect because of his surname. Fact: He was a three-star recruit ranked outside the top 200 nationally, redshirted his first year at Arizona, and is averaging under three points a game. His path is a slow college build, not a fast track.
Myth: Being benched at Auburn means he has fallen out with his coach. Fact: Tommy Lloyd said publicly that he had a good conversation with Bryce, praised his growth, and wished he had found minutes for him. The decision was tactical, in a tight road game.
Myth: Bryce James is a millionaire from NIL deals. Fact: He does hold an NIL deal with Klutch Sports, signed in December 2022, but no reliable source has published its value, and his net worth is not publicly verified.
