Bronny James to return to court in ‘near future’ after cardiac arrest

Bronny James, the teenage son of NBA great LeBron James, is expected to return to basketball “in the very near future” after he suffered a cardiac arrest last month, ESPN reported on Friday, citing a statement from a family spokesperson.

The 18-year-old went into cardiac arrest on July 24 while training with the University of Southern California (USC) basketball team. He was hospitalized and placed in intensive care, and discharged three days later.

Follow-up evaluations have revealed that the probable cause of James’ cardiac arrest was a congenital heart defect, according to the statement, ESPN reported.

“It is an anatomically and functionally significant congenital heart defeat which can and will be treated,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “We are very confident in Bronny’s full recovery and return to basketball in the very near future.”

Bronny James was the second USC player to go into cardiac arrest in the last year. Vince Iwuchukwu collapsed during practice last July after suffering heart failure, and returned to the court six months later.

(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; editing by Robert Birsel)