Sierra Canyon High School has had an enlarged profile over the last year thanks to the presence of Zaire Wade and Bronny James Jr. Bronny is a freshman while Zaire is a senior who is already thinking about college. The team has been dominant this season and are off to the State Championship game which is supposed to go down on Sunday.

While Zaire is a high profile name, he hasn't gotten very much playing time this season. While being an NBA panelist on TNT, D-Wade was asked whether or not he would be attending Sunday's match. Wade offered a surprising answer that insinuated something could be going wrong at Sierra Canyon right now.

There is nothing inherently harmful about placing expectations upon someone. These days, we expect LeBron James to be one of the NBA’s scoring leaders every season because he has proven to us time and time again that he can do it. Without his incredible play on the court, we wouldn’t have those expectations. When a high draft pick is touted as the next big thing, as James was back in 2003, we say this because of what they’ve shown us so far. Simply put: high expectations are the product of your ability at your craft. While this is positive, there is no denying that high and unrealistic expectations can damage a player and open them up to intense scrutiny. Let’s take a look at players such as Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, Markelle Fultz, and even Greg Oden. All of those players went first overall in their respective drafts and all of them have been lambasted by the media. Why? Well, because they never lived up to the expectations of a number one pick.

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If someone expects something of you and you don’t deliver, you’re labeled as a disappointment. This is something that translates to work, school, and even interpersonal relationships. When millions of dollars are at stake and tens of millions of eyes watching your every move on the court, the stakes are that much higher. It’s easy to see how a young player can fall victim to the pitfalls of lofty expectations. These players tend to put more pressure on themselves and when they see the media giving them attention, it magnifies that pressure to an extreme level. Luckily for someone like LeBron, he was able to drown out the noise and forge his own path all while redefining expectations in the process.

Now, it’s LeBron’s son Bronny James Jr. who has to go through the very same thing. Bronny’s birth name, the same as LeBron’s, is something James has admitted he regrets. While speaking on The Shop, LeBron admitted that he only recently realized the burden that comes with that name. Essentially if Bronny isn’t as good as LeBron– he’s a failure. Of course, LeBron has been adamant about Bronny forging his own path and being his best self regardless of who his father is. While this is all well and good, it hasn’t stopped pundits and scouts from speculating about Bronny’s future. As of right now, Bronny is a freshman playing for Sierra Canyon High School in California and has been wracking up quite a few highlights. Due to his status as a freshman, he hasn’t been dominating the scoresheet or raking in the minutes. Instead he’s been developing so he can make more of an impact in his sophomore season.

Realistically, Bronny’s development as a high school basketball player shouldn’t be a story. However, it’s been turned into one. ESPN has started broadcasting Sierra Canyon games and his highlights are everywhere on social media. When Bronny scores a limited amount of points, weird adults on the internet are quick to claim Bronny is some sort of bust who will never be as good as his dad. People have become so worked up over Bronny that it’s almost as if the general public has forgotten that he’s still a teenager with a lot to learn. Some pundits have begun debating whether or not Bronny has college potential and if he has a real path to the NBA. At 15, the weight of the world is already being put on his shoulders. The same thing happened to his dad. Except there is one difference. LeBron exceeded expectations which means people are going to assume the same of Bronny, regardless of how fair it is.

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Even we at HNHH might be a little bit guilty of the Bronny hype. We’ve certainly written our fair share of articles highlighting some of his best plays. What we’ve always made sure to do, however, is not try and hype him up as the second coming of his father. To do so would be robbing a young kid of his joy for the game. While this may be true, it’s also important to note that no one is immune from criticism. With that being said, there is a difference between an obsession over a 15-year-old’s future and an honest conversation about their mistakes and shortcomings on the court. Unfortunately, the dialogue surrounding Bronny has gone from 0 to 100 and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down anytime soon.

Over the next couple of years, we’re going to see the Bronny hype skyrocket to unforeseen levels, especially if he continues to excel as a basketball player. If and when Bronny goes to college, the expectations thrust upon him will be so out of this world that they’re going to exceed those placed on LeBron. Even the assumption that he’ll go to college for basketball is an expectation in and of itself. Perhaps Bronny actually likes these expectations. After all, some people thrive in this environment. No one knows what Bronny’s thinking right now but none of it can be easy. 

Bronny is simply in an impossible situation. His father’s stature as one of the best to ever play makes him susceptible to these expectations while the frantic media coverage has made him an overnight star. If Bronny were to not live up to expectations, while the fallout would be massive, it wouldn’t be his fault. Moving forward, Bronny will become the perfect example of what high expectations can do to a young athlete. While we wish him the best, we hope everyone can sit back and realize that he’s only a kid.

Bronny James Jr. is the 15-year-old son of NBA superstar LeBron James and over the last few months, he has been earning a ton of coverage thanks to his play with Sierra Canyon High School in California. Prior to Sierra Canyon, Bronny was known for his highlights while playing for various AAU teams. He has always shown a ton of potential and can already dunk like no one else. As a Freshman on Sierra Canyon, Bronny hasn't been lighting up the scoresheet although he has been a mainstay on highlight reels thanks to his alley-oops and ability to make big plays when it matters. 

Yesterday, ESPN posted Bronny's freshman mixtape on their IGTV and all we can say is: "wow." Throughout the video, Bronny can be seen making a plethora of big plays that will certainly get basketball fans excited for the future.

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Of course, it remains to be seen what Bronny will be able to accomplish in the future. Some believe he could play in the NCAA one day while others are holding out before making any premature judgments on a 15-year-old. Regardless, Bronny appears to be an immensely talented player who has a ton of potential moving forward.

Hopefully, we will be seeing Bronny's highlights for years to come.

LeBron James has some pretty talented children. Bronny James Jr. has been impressing his teammates on the court while playing for Sierra Canyon and is constantly the subject of highlight reels. Meanwhile, LeBron's youngest child Zhuri currently has her very own YouTube channel. LeBron's middle child, Bryce, is also immensely talented and is currently playing middle school basketball with Sierra Canyon as a seventh-grader. Recently, Bryce and his teammates were the subjects of a highlight reel that showed off some of their best plays.

As you can see in the video below, Bryce is raining down shots while one of his teammates throws down a dunk, at the age of 12. These kids certainly have bright futures ahead of them and LeBron took notice as he went on Twitter saying "Them boys be cooking."

The Sierra Canyon boy's basketball team, which includes LeBron James' son Bronny and Dwyane Wade's son Zaire, paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant in a number of ways on Tuesday night.

For starters, the Blazers took the court for pre-game warmups wearing specially designed t-shirts honoring Kobe and his daughter Gianna. Both Sierra Canyon and Campbell Hall also took shot clock violations immediately after tip-off as a further tribute to the Laker legend.

Once the game actually got underway, Zaire threw down a fast break dunk and proceed to pull his jersey to one side, just the way the Black Mamba did after he hit the game-winning shot against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of the 2006 Western Conference Playoffs. Check out Z-Wade's tribute, as well as Kobe's memorable shot, in the videos embedded below.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were originally scheduled to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night, but the game was rightfully postponed in the aftermath of Kobe Bryant's death. One of the best ways for LeBron to cope with the passing of Kobe was to go watch his son, LeBron James Jr., and the rest of the Sierra Canyon boy's basketball team. And they didn't disappoint. 

As seen in the footage embedded below, Bronny threw down an impressive alley-oop off a baseline inbounds pass during the team's 83-57 victory over Campbell Hall.

Bronny James Jr is only a freshman in high school yet he is still the most popular high school basketball player on the planet. The reason for this is quite simple: his dad is LeBron James. Bronny is currently playing for Sierra Canyon and has been making waves as a future top tier talent. While he isn't racking up stats, or playing at the level of some of his teammates, Bronny has been able to showcase some flashed of brilliance that bode well for him in the future.

This past weekend, Bronny and company took on Minnehaha Academy at the Target Center in Minnesota. Fans came out in droves to watch Sierra Canyon play as 17,000 people packed the Timberwolves arena. What makes this so incredible is that, according to Bleacher Report, the T-Wolves average under 15,000 fans per game. Despite the crowd, Sierra Canyon lost by 20 as Bronny scored five points in 18 minutes of action.