Bronny James put in a lot of effort to earn his stripes as a basketball player. Being the eldest son of LeBron James, the youngster is bound to face a lot of pressure as fans would expect him to live up to his father’s name. However, the 18-year-old set off into the world by himself and created a legacy of his own instead. But everything came to a brief standstill a few months ago during a USC basketball workout.
Bronny suffered from a cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital to receive urgent treatment. Within a week of being admitted, he showed signs of recovery and was eventually discharged. It took a while before doctors figured out what caused the episode. James’ cardiac arrest was caused by a congenital heart defect. Luckily, it is treatable which also indicates that the USC star will be back in action within no time.
“Bronny’s doing very well… “He’s going to class and doing extremely well in school, and we’re really excited for him,” said Andy Enfield, Head Coach of the USC Trojans. He added, “And we all love him. I think everybody is hopeful that Bronny will return to the court. We just have to be patient and take it step by step.”
Out at USC men’s basketball’s first official practice of the year. No Bronny James, but Isaiah Collier, DJ Rodman here. pic.twitter.com/OZkNElNdMN
— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) September 25, 2023
While Bronny James’ health scare was speculated to be caused by USC’s strict vaccination rules, several athletes from the school have had health issues in the past. Over a decade ago, ex-USC student-athlete, Armond Armstead faced a very similar incident.
Armond Armstead sued USC after medical staff forced him to take painkillers that caused heart issues
Bronny James wasn’t the first one to go down this tragic pathway. Well over a decade ago, former USC lineman Armond Armstead suffered from a minor heart attack. He committed to USC in 2008 as a four-star football recruit but during his sophomore year, he broke his foot. He missed out on the first five games of the season as well. This was when USC’s medical team injected him with Toradol, a painkiller similar to ibuprofen.
In 2010, Armond faced another injury which led the medical team to inject him with multiple doses of the same painkiller. Soon, Armstead started complaining about chest pain when the University Park Medical Center ended up giving him the same painkiller for relief. However, months after this took place, it was revealed that he had suffered from a minor heart attack. Armstead sued USC in 2012, claiming that the extensive doses of Toradol led to the attack.
The former lineman stated in his lawsuit that coaches and medical team members forced him to take shots of Toradol to relieve his aches. He also alleged that USC blocked him from transferring which also ruined his chances of joining the NFL as well.
