When will Bronny James play? Exploring USC star's return timeline

There is a chance that Bronny James finally gets to play for the USC Trojans soon.

Bronny's father, LeBron, told ESPN's Dave McMenamin that the younger James will undergo a checkup to find out if he can be cleared to rejoin the USC Trojans in training.

McMenamin reported on X:

"Bronny James is going to get a checkup at the end of the month, according to LeBron James. If he’s cleared, he will practice with the intention to return to game action for USC this season."

The entire sports world was saddened when Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest during preseason training on July 24. It was later revealed that he had a congenital heart defect.

James eventually recovered, but he has yet to return to practice and was later ruled out for USC's season opener against Kansas State, although he participated in the shootaround, another positive sign that he could be back very soon.

Bronny James 'doing extremely well' says dad

As of Oct. 2, LeBron James said that his son looked fine following a successful heart operation.

LeBron James said during the Los Angeles Lakers media day:

"Bronny is doing extremely well. He has begun his rehab process to get back on the floor this season with his teammates at USC. [With] the successful surgery that he had, he's on the up-and-up. It's definitely a whirlwind, a lot of emotions for our family this summer.

"But the best thing we have is each other and we stuck behind each other and gave each other strength through the whole process. We are happy to see where he is today and we look forward to seeing what his future still has in store for him."

At the moment, there is no clear timetable as to when the younger James will finally get to play for USC.

However, if the case of Vincent Iwuchukwu is to be considered, there could be a chance that Bronny James might sit out for the first half of the college basketball season.

Iwuchukwu also suffered a cardiac arrest during the preseason and missed 16 games in the 2022-2023 NCAA season.

Luckily for USC, though, the team arguably has a "winnable" schedule to open the 2023-2024 season with only one Top 25 opponent outside the Pac-12 coming up, a Dec. 2 showdown against 11th-ranked Gonzaga.

USC, which began the season as No. 21, opened its campaign with an 82-69 win against Kansas State. Boogie Ellis led the Trojans with 24 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.