Bronny James 'stable' after cardiac arrest

USC freshman treated Monday after collapsing during practice. His playing future is TBD. Plus, the Maui Bracket revealed, and a must-read on Cooper Flagg.

Author

Mike Miller
July 26, 2023

Most of our summer days at The Daily are spent daydreaming about the upcoming season. And some days turn into a bit of a scare.

1. Bronny James recovering

Bronny James, new USC freshman and son of Lakers star LeBron James, was hospitalized Monday after going into cardiac arrest and collapsing during practice. He was taken to the ICU for treatment.

The full statement from USC:

"Yesterday while practicing, Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU. We ask for respect and privacy for the James family, and we will update media when there is more information. 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."

Bronny is a Top 30 recruit and one of four incoming freshmen for the Trojans. The 6-3 combo guard doesn’t have the same physical presence as his dad, but displays terrific court sense, is a terrific defender and has gone from a solid recruit to elite through his work and dedication. That, coupled with his family name, made him perhaps the most well-known incoming freshman since Zion Williamson.

What happens next is up to his family and doctors.

Bronny is the second USC player in the last year to suffer cardiac arrest with the program. Former 5-star big man Vince Iwuchukwu dealt with this last summer and eventually played 14 games last season.

That should be viewed as an unfortunate coincidence. Per The Athletic, the rate of cardiac arrest is about 1 in 1,000 people, while reports suggest that about one in 50,000 to one in 80,000 young athletes die of cardiac arrest every year.

There was no shortage of well-wishes for Bronny on Monday. His brother, Bryce, posted this on Instagram, while Bills safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed during an NFL game last season, did the same.

We wish Bronny the best in recovery.

2. Making Maui plans

The Maui Invitational was its usual top-flight tournament last season, replete with incredible performances and statement games.

But now that we’ve finally seen a bracket for the 2023 tournament, it’s safe to say Maui will be the place to be next season. (Well, for basketball. Maui’s always the place to be.)

The field was announced a while ago, but seeing a bracket just makes it more tangible. Kansas, Purdue and Marquette will enter the season as Top 10 teams. Tennessee and Gonzaga will be awfully close. UCLA and Syracuse have plenty of talent and also could be in the Top 25 by the time the tourney tips off.

"This year's Maui Jim Maui Invitational field is one of the most celebrated and special groups of teams we have put together in the 40-year history of this Tournament," said Tournament Chairman Dave Odom.

All 12 games will be on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

More hype nuggets:

  • The tourney features the reigning POY (Zach Edey), and two other probable preseason All-Americans in Tyler Kolek and Hunter Dickinson.

  • Five of these teams are coming off conference titles, and six won NCAA tourney games

  • Combined, the eight teams have 259 appearances in the Big Dance

Best of all? The semifinals on Nov. 21 should be two games between four Top 10 teams. It’s must-see TV and would be worth every penny to watch in person.

(Checks airfare and hotel prices for Maui)

What channel again?

3. The legend of Cooper Flagg

By now, almost everyone knows the name Cooper Flagg.

The 16-year-old 5-star prospect from Maine was the talk at Peach Jam earlier this month thanks to his spectacular two-way play and projection as a future NBA lottery pick.

It’s rare for any high school player to hit these heights, let alone one from Maine. Only one other Maine player has been viewed as a Top 100 prospect in the past 10 years. And It’s been almost 40 years since a Maine player was drafted.

So what’s Flagg’s story?

This fun feature by Isaac Trotter of 247Sports dives into Flagg’s rise, starting as a third-grader thriving against sixth-graders and going through his state title with Nokomis Regional High School. Flagg now plays at Montverde Academy in Florida, along with his brother, Ace. But as a freshman, Cooper was instrumental in a little history-building.

From the story:

Winning a state championship is always special in a small town, but this one was especially unique. It was the first state title for boys basketball in Nokomis’ history. Nokomis Regional High School takes students from a handful of small towns in Central Maine, including Newport where the Flagg family is from. When Nokomis won the title, Anderson noted that the entire surrounding towns emptied to celebrate.

“The welcome that we had after the regional championship and the state championship was incredible,” Anderson said. “Motorcade, every fire truck in the area, police cars. Remember this is a rural area, but people were lining the road for one-and-a-half miles leading to the school which is in a remote area. Get to the turn to the Nokomis road and it’s fireworks. It was such a big deal.”

The run to the state championship helped the entire state of Maine hop on the Flagg Bandwagon.

“Even going to Nokomis for the year was a favor to the state in some ways,” Levinsky said.

There are more anecdotes and tales from Maine littered throughout the story, which makes for a fun read in the middle of summer.

And also helps explain why Flagg seems a little larger than life right about now.

Wading back into coaching

Will Wade says he’s a natural risk taker, but when it came to returning to the coaching ranks he wanted a spot that would allow him to focus on coaching. He tells Terrence Oglesby that he found it in McNeese State. And here he explains why.

Links as you think about a loan for that Maui trip.

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