It was the dream that LeBron James first floated a few years ago, the notion of playing in the NBA alongside one of his sons.

And it’s a step closer to reality now.

Bronny James — the oldest son of the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and four-time champion — was drafted Thursday by the Lakers, the team that his father has played for since 2018. Bronny James was taken with the No. 55 overall pick, deep in the second round and with only three picks remaining in this year’s draft.

“Beyond blessed,” Bronny James wrote in an Instagram post.

Adding further intrigue to the move: LeBron James can become a free agent next week, which means he could choose to leave the Lakers and sign elsewhere.

“In the history of the NBA, there’s never been a father and a son that have shared an NBA basketball court and that feels like something that could be magical,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said. “We know, and have to respect of course, that LeBron has a decision on his opt-out ... but if it worked out that he was on our team next season, NBA history could be made. And NBA history should be made in a Lakers uniform.”

The draft move doesn’t guarantee that father and son will actually play in a game together, nor does it even guarantee that Bronny James will be on the Lakers’ roster next season. But it certainly raises the possibility that it could happen in what would be an NBA first — a father-son on-court duo in the league simultaneously as players. There have been about 100 instances in NBA history of players joining the league after their fathers played, but those always came at least five years after the father’s career ended.

But the 39-year-old LeBron James’ incredible longevity — he’ll match Vince Carter for the longest career as an NBA player ever this coming season, which will be his 22nd in the league — makes the father-son duo possible.

“With the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select Bronny James from the University of Southern California,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in announcing the pick, making the moment official for the 19-year-old, who was born just before the start of his father’s second NBA season.

It’s possible that Bronny James’ debut in a Lakers uniform could be July 12 in Las Vegas, in the team’s summer league opener against the Rockets.

Bronny James is a guard, one who was listed at 6-foot-4 on the USC roster but measured at 6-1 1/2 at the draft combine. That would make him one of the NBA’s shortest players.

Bronny James played one year of college basketball with the Trojans and averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season. He played in 25 games, missing the start of the season after needing a procedure last year to fix what was diagnosed as a congenital heart defect, which was found after he went into cardiac arrest during a summer workout.

A panel of doctors cleared Bronny James for NBA play last month.