Bronny James has said he is not paying attention to his father LeBron’s speculation. James has picked $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul had informed ESPN on Sunday.

Paul said James will be closely monitoring the Lakers’ moves during the off-season and wants to go all the way with the franchise in next season.

“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future,” Paul told ESPN. “We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

“Actually, one of my friends called me, talking about where [I was going to play next season], what I was going to do because they saw my dad [in the news],” Bronny said Wednesday. “I didn’t see it. He called me. I was like, ‘Yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ … I don’t really pay attention to that stuff. There’s a lot of stuff going around that I don’t pay attention to.”

James Jr. revealed he hasn’t had a conversation with his father regarding his future plans and he is focused on improving his game.

“We don’t really talk about it much,” Bronny said. “I think when stuff like that does come up, he just tells me to not worry about it, to not even pay attention to it [and] just lock into what you have going on right now. And that’s what’s going to get me better and to keep me focused. I think it’s good that he tells me to not pay attention to that stuff.”

Bronny said he is optimistic that the Lakers would bounce back strongly in the next season and their focus is to get better as a unit.

“Obviously being on the team, I think we’re going come back even better than we were last year,” Bronny said. “We just got to come in here and come in the gym with a purpose and be ready to work every day and be ready to get better every day.”