Bronny James suffers cardiac arrest at USC, is now stable

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Bronny James suffers cardiac arrest

The 18-year-old son of Lakers star LeBron James suffers cardiac arrest during a USC workout Monday. His family says he is in stable condition.

By Ryan Kartje

, Dan Woike and Richard Winton

July 25, 2023 Updated 4:52 PM PT

Bronny James, the highly touted USC freshman and son of Lakers star LeBron James, lost consciousness during a workout at the Galen Center on Monday and was treated for cardiac arrest.

James, 18, was in stable condition Tuesday morning after a brief stint in the intensive care unit, according to a spokesperson for the James family.

It is the second time a USC freshman basketball player suffered cardiac arrest while practicing in a little over a year. Vince Iwuchukwu returned to the court six months after his cardiac arrest on campus. It’s unclear whether James’ recovery would follow a similar path.

“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes,” the James family said in a statement.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics were called to the Galen Center, where USC practices, at 9:26 a.m. Monday for a medical emergency, according to a department spokeswoman. Bronny James lost consciousness and was taken “Code 3, lights and sirens” to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center shortly after the ambulance arrived, according to a source who was not authorized to speak about the situation publicly.

USC declined to comment on the situation, citing student privacy concerns.

The Trojans athletic trainers have had dealt with comparable medical emergencies it the past. Iwuchukwu collapsed at a practice last summer and was revived on site by USC trainers using an automated external defibrillator.

Iwuchukwu was initially told that he would never play basketball again. But doctors reversed course on that prognosis days later. The player made a full recovery and returned to the basketball court six months later, albeit with a battery-powered pulse generator installed in his chest to constantly monitor his heart rate.

How quickly James will be able to return to the Trojans, if at all, remains to be seen. Two cardiologists who didn’t treat James but spoke generally about heart attacks told The Times on Tuesday that the fact James was moved out of the intensive care unit within 24 hours of his heart episode was “really promising.”

“Even for a young, healthy athlete, being out of the ICU already is pretty good,” said Dr. Cheng-Han Chen, interventional cardiologist and medical director of the structural heart disease program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills.

Some of the most physically fit athletes have suffered severe cardiac episodes in past.

In the U.S., 75% of all sudden deaths that occur while NCAA athletes are playing sports are attributable to cardiovascular conditions, according to Dr. Satyajit Reddy, a sports cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.

A 2016 study found that NCAA athletes ran a 1-in-53,703 risk of sudden cardiac death. That burden was not equally shared. If the athlete was Black, their risk more than doubled to 1 in 21,491. And if they were a men’s basketball player, the risk was 1 in 8,978.

Chen said the most likely cause of James’ cardiac arrest was genetic, though exceptions to that statistical likelihood exist.

Medical tests are unlikely to explain how two seemingly healthy 18-year-old USC basketball players — James and Iwuchukwu — could both suffer sudden cardiac arrest about one year apart.

Chen called the proximity of the two cardiac events “an unfortunate statistical fluke.”

“What happened to them is not related,” Chen said. “There’s nothing that would explain that.”

When James committed to USC in May, choosing the Trojans over Ohio State and Oregon as well as non-collegiate programs Overtime Elite and G League Ignite, his arrival was met with major fanfare at USC. James joined an already star-studded recruiting class that ranked among the best in the nation. Not only was he the son of an NBA legend, but James developed into a top prospect in his own right while at Sierra Canyon High, earning McDonald’s All-American honors just as his dad had two decades earlier.

LeBron James called the day his son committed to USC “one of the best days of my life.”

“This is an incredible thing,” he said at the time.

The Lakers star made clear in recent years that he hoped to one day play together in the NBA with his son. The expectation was that Bronny James wouldn’t be at USC long before making the leap to join his father in the league.

The question now isn’t whether he’ll declare for the draft after one season but, rather, if he’ll be able to return to competitive basketball at all.

While waiting for updates, many throughout the sports world offered Bronny James and his family words of encouragement via social media.

One of the first to tweet his support was Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who suffered cardiac arrest during a Monday night game in January and was cleared to return to football in April.

“Prayers to Bronny & The James family as well,” Hamlin posted on Twitter on Tuesday morning. “here for you guys just like you have been for me my entire process.”

Other well-wishers include former Lakers Magic Johnson, Metta World Peace and Mychal Thompson; tennis legend Billie Jean King; college basketball broadcasting legend Dick Vitale; current NBA players Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks; the Miami Heat, a team that LeBron James led to two NBA titles and four Finals appearances; and former NFL players Dez Bryant and Robert Griffin III.

Times staff writers Corinne Purtill and Chuck Schilken contributed to this report.