Two days after USC basketball player Bronny James was rushed to a hospital after suffering cardiac arrest, a new report offers an upbeat assessment of his condition.
NBA legend LeBron James and his wife, Savannah, are “relieved” and “optimistic,” TMZ reported citing, “sources with knowledge.”
The report said the parents were anxious to know what caused their eldest son to go into cardiac arrest.
Bronny James, 18, collapsed Monday morning during practice. The incoming freshman was initially admitted to the intensive care unit but has since been moved out of ICU.
“He’s OK, but remains in the hospital just under observation,” Entertainment Tonight reported, citing a source it did not name.
“They are still trying to determine what happened,” the report said.
Shephal K. Doshi thinks Bronny James is recovering ‘quickly’
“The fact that Bronny’s already out of the ICU means he’s recovering quickly. I would anticipate that over the near term in the next day, two or three that he should be walking around. If his brain function is normal,… pic.twitter.com/ETBlKd7uNd
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 26, 2023
According to CNN, citing a source it did not name, Bronny James had passed a cardiac screening conducted several months ago that was conducted as part of a program aimed at future NBA players.
CNN reported that the screening included a transthoracic echocardiogram, which assesses blood flow in the heart, and an EKG, which checks electrical activity. Both tests came back as normal.
“The normal results of those tests are a good sign and likely mean the episode wasn’t caused by an anatomical preexisting problem,” CNN wrote.
Bronny James gets ‘prayers’ from Damar Hamlin after cardiac arrest https://t.co/nVhsOBQ5BQ pic.twitter.com/SPb1xFhnrF
— New York Post (@nypost) July 25, 2023
“I’m just thankful, thank the good Lord, that he’s doing OK and whatever caused this is something they will identify and alleviate as soon as possible so he can restore his life,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said, according to the New York Post.
“When you hear that, it scares you to death because these are the kinds of things that are an anomaly but nevertheless are incredibly possible,” Smith said.
Yahoo Sports quoted Dr. Brian Sutterer as saying recovery for a normal life and recovery for an NBA career are two different things.
“There are some causes of cardiac arrest that you find the exact cause, and it still isn’t necessarily safe to return to sports because the risk is so high of having another cardiac arrest and potentially dying,” Sutterer said.
“Some of these conditions, like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or the anomalous coronary arteries like we saw Sharif O’Neill have, can be treated or repaired best you can with surgical intervention, but obviously that’s going to put Bronny out of playing for a really long time,” he said.
“If they don’t find an exact cause and you don’t really know what happened. And you have to have that discussion of what exactly are the risks of going back out there and playing,” he said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
