NBA Free Agency Rumors: Gary Payton says LeBron James has enrolled his son in Los Angeles’ Sierra Canyon High School

This should be treated with extreme skepticism, but LeBron James might’ve taken another step toward signing with the Lakers.

LeBron James’ eldest son, LeBron “Bronny” James, Jr., is one of the nation’s top you talents at his age (13). That, in and of itself, makes where he plays his basketball moving forward worth watching. It might also offer a hint as to where LeBron might play his basketball for the next few years, though any report on a correlation should probably handled extremely gently.

According to Gary Payton, by way of Black Sports Online’s Sheena Marie (and LeBronWire’s Bryan Kalbrosky), Bronny is already enrolled at Sierra Canyon High School, along with Scottie Pippen and Kenyon Martin’s sons.

Here’s the full video:

Sierra Canyon, nor any of the involved parties, have confirmed Payton’s “report":

Here’s the thing with information like this: First off, it’s impossible to really cover any of this without feeling a little slimy. Yes, James’ decision will impact and involve his family, but his kids didn’t ask to be his kids. They had no choice regarding having this kind of attention.

Next, LeBron is going to protect every single bit of information that might provide a hint about his decision this summer with the utmost secrecy. Official, confirmed reporting on where he might live and where his kids might go to school almost definitely won’t come until after he announces where he’ll be playing.

So, maybe Payton has some inside information here. Maybe this is one of the hints we might look back on after James’ lifts up the jersey of the team he commits to as we slap our foreheads and say we should’ve known all along. Or, maybe this doesn’t mean anything at all.

Hell, James might even be setting up his family for the Los Angeles lifestyle while he opts to play for another city altogether. There’s just no way to know at this juncture, as annoying as that might be to admit.

For now, it’s best to store this in the back of our minds. Doing anything beyond that is ill-advised at best and potentially dangerous and gross at worst.