Bronny James met with the media for the first time as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. James and fellow 2024 NBA Draft selection Dalton Knecht spoke about their jump to the league, and while James unsurprisingly got plenty of questions about one Laker teammate in particular, both players got the chance to dive into why they are wearing their respective jersey numbers.
James will wear the No. 9 in Los Angeles, and explained how he did it as a way to honor Juice WRLD, the rapper who passed away back in 2019.
“Juice has been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations I’ve been through.”
Bronny James pays homage to the late Juice WRLD by wearing the #9 for LAL
pic.twitter.com/DxMzMThEPi
— NBA (@NBA) July 2, 2024
“Juice has just been a big part of me keeping calm in some situations that I’ve been through,” James explained. “So yeah, just paying homage to him, especially cause he passed, it’s a really important thing for me.”
For Knecht, things were a little more simple, as he decided to take advantage of the fact that his college number is worn by Anthony Davis by going with a pun based on his last name.
Dalton Knecht on switching to No. 4:
“[No.] 3, AD got it. So why not do Knecht 4?” pic.twitter.com/khDGq70g7R
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 2, 2024
“I knew eventually, like, I probably would have to run into the number 4,” Knecht said. “But, 3’s been my number my whole life, and then, yeah, 3, AD got it, so why not do Knecht 4? Why not?”