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The biggest story from Bronny James' debut is LeBron James and the national anthem

Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 10: LeBron James (2nd R) looks on from the stands towards Bronny James #6 of the USC Trojans during the first half against the Long Beach State 49ers at Galen Center. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 10: LeBron James (2nd R) looks on from the stands towards Bronny James #6 of the USC Trojans during the first half against the Long Beach State 49ers at Galen Center. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

Bronny James, the oldest son of NBA superstar LeBron James, made his debut with the USC Trojans men's basketball team Sunday night against Long Beach State. He sustained sudden cardiac arrest in July during a workout but returned to the court and had a solid stat line off the bench: four points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in 17 minutes of action.

The Trojans ended up losing to Long Beach State 84-79 in overtime but one of the bigger stories from the game is the backlash from when LeBron and two other James children entered the Galen Center.

LeBron, Zhrui, and Bryce James walked to their seats during the national anthem.

Entering during the anthem drew criticism on X, formerly known as Twitter, towards LeBron.

Orange County Register reporter Luca Evans, who took the original video, responded to the criticism and added that this is the same time LeBron walked to seats for games when Bronny was in high school.

“I think the most important thing, who cares about the win or the loss, the kid was standing tall and standing strong at the end of the game,” LeBron said after the game about his son's performance. “That is a blessing in its own right, and that is a win. He's won at life, and everything else at this point is extra credit.”

LeBron posted on his Instagram account after the game to congratulate Bronny on his first college basketball game.

Embedded content: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0sZciOp5ka/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=YzZhZTZiNWI3Nw==

Bronny and the Trojans head on the road to take on Auburn on Sunday. Next up for LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers is the San Antonio Spurs, with road games tonight and Friday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James faces backlash for entering USC game during anthem