As it turns out, LeBron James‘ two sons, LeBron Jr. and Bryce, don’t wear No. 23 like their dad when they’re clowning kids in shooty hoops. Instead, they wear the numbers of the two best point guards in the game today: Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook.
The backstory is this: On Monday, James sent out two Instagram videos of his sons playing in a basketball tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.
Taking a closer look at the videos, LeBron Jr. is wearing No. 0 and Bryce is sporting No. 30. Per James, there’s a reason behind those specific numbers:
LeBron tells me LeBron Jr. (No. 0) & Bryce (No. 30) wear their numbers after Westbrook & Steph. "I love that they carve their own path"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 15, 2016
NBA fans know numbers are synonymous with players, just like Jordan and LeBron and are No. 23, Kobe is No. 24 (and No. 8), and so on. Steph is No. 30. Westbrook is No. 0. Inferring what LeBron Jr. and Bryce are saying doesn’t take a lot of work. That James recognizes that and appreciates their determination to carve their own path away from his game says a lot. The reality is James’ kids are always going to be linked to him the further along they go in their basketball careers. That’s life for a lot of NBA kids playing sports. But it’s good to see James promoting an environment where his kids can follow their own dreams.
And Curry and Westbrook aren’t a bad pair around which to model your game.
