LeBron James cheered at Golden 1 Center? NBA star comes to Sacramento to see son in action
Usually, an entrance by LeBron James in Sacramento is greeted with a chorus of heavy-duty boos.
That was not the case on Friday night.
When the 21-time NBA All-Star walked onto the Golden 1 Center floor during warmups of a CIF State championship game, the Los Angeles Lakers veteran was enthusiastically cheered. James was in town to watch his son, Bryce James, play the Lincoln Trojans of Stockton in the Division I final. The applause came from Bryce’s Sierra Canyon High School fans and students who made the trip from Los Angeles County.
James flew to Sacramento early Friday evening. He has been sidelined with the Lakers with a groin injury.
James was escorted by Golden 1 security along with his wife Savannah James and their 11-year old daughter, Zuri. Teenage students who worked their way to the baseline shrieked giddily at the sight of the 6-foot-9 superstar, the sort of sound you’d hear at a concert. James has regularly drawn big applause and cheers when attending the games of his sons in Southern California.
Bryce James on Friday capped a six-year run for the James sons, often on a big stage with national appeal. Older brother Bronny James led Sierra Canyon to cusp of the CIF State finals at Golden 1 in 2020, but the event was canceled — as were sports at all levels across the country — with the outbreak of COVID-19.
Bronny was drafted last year by the Lakers. Kid brother Bryce is a 6-5 wing who is committed to the Arizona Wildcats. He averaged 8.2 points and 2.5 rebounds entering Friday with a career-high of 18 points.
He scored three points and had five rebounds and two assists, and his father stood and cheered, pumping his fists as the game wound down behind Sierra Canyon baskets by Maximo Adams and Bryce Cofield as the Trailblazers won 58-53. As the game ended, James offered an arm to lift a fallen Anthony Moore, a 6-6 forward for Lincoln who scored 18 points.
Moore said of the night later, “As soon as LeBron walked in, we all looked. At the end, he helped me up. I’ll always remember that.”
Bryce James made just 1 of 9 shots, but he felt the support of his proud father, saying, “My dad on the sideline, he coaches me up. Told me to keep taking shots. That means he has confidence in me and that gives me confidence in me.”
It’s the first state championship for one of James’ sons as Lincoln attempted to become the first team in school history for any sport to win a state championship. A Lincoln victory would have been just the second for a Sac-Joaquin Section team to win a D-I crown since the event started in 1981.
Pleasant Grove of the Elk Grove Unified School District won the 2013 D-I title at Arco Arena under coach John DuPont and a roster that included sophomore post Marquese Chriss. He the 6-9 forward was drafted in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Kings, who traded him on draft night to Phoenix.
LeBron James isn’t the first NBA player to watch sons play at Golden 1 in state finals. Sierra Canyon previously started the sons of Scottie Pippen and Kenyon Martin in CIF games.
And there will be another on Saturday. At 4 p.m., the Jesuit Marauders — the Sacramento-area’s only boys team in a state final — will be tasked with defending prolific 6-6 Chatsworth of LA County guard Alijah Arenas in the Division II game.
His father, Gilbert Arenas, was a three-time NBA All-Star. He watched from midcourt last year when his son scored 44 points in a state final. He is averaging 30.4 points.
James has missed three games with a groin injury. As he took the floor at Golden 1, his Lakers were engaged in a tense showdown in Denver, ultimately losing to the Nuggets, 131-126. Both teams are entangled in a tightly contested NBA Western Conference, with fewer than five games separating the No. 2 and No. 7 seeds as of Friday evening.
As the Kings yielded their home court to high schoolers for the state championship games, they lost on the road to the Phoenix Suns to fall to 33-33 on the season, currently the No. 9 seed in the conference.
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM.