Bronny James, fresh off committing to USC, is most marketable young athlete

Bronny James sent shock waves through the college basketball universe this past weekend, when the four-star guard and son of NBA superstar LeBron James announced his commitment to USC.

While the Trojans were the perceived leader for James, there was very little public information about which schools were truly involved in his recruitment and if he would choose to play in college over going the pro route for a year before entering the 2024 NBA Draft.

James will now suit up for the Trojans and play his home games less than three miles away from Crypto.com Arena, where his father plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.

"This made all the sense in the world," Skip Bayless said on "Undisputed." "This works because obviously, Dad wants to watch him play as much in person."

With the addition of James, USC will feature one of the top backcourts in the country next season with returning standout Boogie Ellis, who led the Trojans in scoring last season at 17.7 points per contest, and lead guard Isaiah Collier, the top-ranked high school senior in the nation.

While James is expected to make an immediate impact for the Trojans on the court in 2023, it’s the value he brings off the court that unlike anything we’ve ever seen in college basketball.

According to a recent report from On3.com, a college sports site that utilizes data to calculate athlete market values, James has a current NIL valuation of $6.1 million (up from $5.9 million since his commitment to USC), which is more than double any other high school or college athlete outside of LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who has a reported value of $3.4 million. Bronny’s younger brother, Bryce James, is the only other current high school athlete who has an NIL valuation that surpasses $1 million.

The report explains that an NIL valuation calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects out as long as 12 months into the future.

In order to help put Bronny James’ reported valuation into proper context, look no further than the annual player earnings in the NBA, where according to the current CBA, the minimum yearly salary of an NBA player ranges between $953,000 and $2.7 million, depending on experience.

An annual earning of $6.1 million would rank approximately 195th among all current NBA players, meaning that Bronny James would make more than 57% of the current players in the NBA.

While James’ NIL valuation is fueled largely by his massive following on social media — 7.1M followers on Instagram, 5.7M followers on TikTok — he does have preexisting NIL deals with the likes of Beats By Dre and Nike. He joins incoming freshman DJ Wagner, who is committed to Kentucky, as the only male high school athlete to sign a Nike NIL deal. 

LeBron James, who is 38 years old and in the midst of his 20th NBA season, has mentioned his desire to play alongside Bronny on several occasions. Bronny would be able to enter the NBA Draft after one season at USC, but he will have plenty of opportunities to continue to capitalize on his personal brand before then.

If he is able to help lead the Trojans to a magical season and a deep March Madness run, chances are his value will only increase.