LeBron and Bronny James appear together, make NBA history
LOS ANGELES, California: LeBron James and his son Bronny made history by becoming the first father and son to play the NBA together.
LeBron James gave his 20-year-old son a pep talk before they rose from the Lakers bench amid rising cheers and walked together to the scorer’s table.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, it’s a moment I’m never going to forget,” The Associated Press quoted LeBron as saying. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”
Father and son entered the game together against Minnesota with four minutes left in the second quarter, drawing a huge ovation from the home crowd, fully aware of the historic moment. LeBron, 39, had already played 13 minutes after starting the game, but this was the first time he shared the court with his 20-year-old son, LeBron Jr., for about 2 1/2 minutes.
LeBron James, one of the greatest players in NBA history with four championships and 20 All-Star appearances, teamed up with his son, who had been a second-round pick by the Lakers the previous summer. This marked the first time in NBA history that a father and son played together in the league and, even more remarkably, on the same team.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though,” father told son on the bench before they checked in, an exchange captured by the TNT cameras and microphones. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”
Their time on court together was fast and furious, just as LeBron promised.
LeBron, who finished the night with 16 points, missed two perimeter shots before making a dunk. Bronny had an early offensive rebound and missed a tip-in, and his first NBA jump shot moments later was a 3-pointer that came up just short.
Bronny didn’t play again in the Lakers’ 110-103 victory over the Timberwolves.
After the final whistle on the Lakers’ first opening-night victory in LeBron’s seven seasons with the team, father and son also headed to the locker room together – but not before stopping in the tunnel to hug Savannah James, LeBron’s wife, and Bronny’s mother. The entire family was in attendance to watch history. It was also little sister Zhuri’s 10th birthday.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. also were courtside at the Lakers’ downtown arena to witness the same history they made in Major League Baseball. The two sluggers played 51 games together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991 as baseball’s first father-son duo.
LeBron first spoke about his dream to play alongside Bronny a few years ago while his oldest son was still in high school. The dream became real after Bronny entered the draft as a teenager following one collegiate season, and the Lakers grabbed him with the 55th overall pick.
In the summer of 2023, Bronny James survived a cardiac arrest and underwent open-heart surgery. Despite a shortened freshman season at the University of Southern California, he declared for the NBA draft, where the Lakers eagerly selected the 6-foot-2 guard with one of the final picks.
While LeBron spent his summer in Europe, winning gold with the U.S. team at the Paris Olympics, Bronny played for the Lakers’ summer league team. They later practiced together ahead of training camp. Their first on-court appearance as teammates came in the preseason, playing four minutes in a game against Phoenix near Palm Springs earlier in the month.
Though the Lakers haven’t speculated on how long Bronny will remain on their NBA roster-given they already have three other small guards-he’ll likely spend time with the South Bay Lakers, their G League affiliate, to gain the playing time necessary to develop his game.