In the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers game Oct. 22, LeBron James and his son, Bronny James, took the court together, becoming the first father and son to play together in NBA history.
The two checked in with four minutes left in the second quarter. LeBron James, who started the game, had already played 13 minutes and taken a breather, but re-entered with his son. Bronny James would check out after around a minute of court time.
During their shift together, the Lakers were outscored 7-2. Bronny James missed an open three and was blocked by Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert on a tip-in attempt. He did not return to the court for the rest of the game, which the Lakers won 110-103. LeBron James finished with five rebounds, four assists and 16 points.
Before entering the game together, the elder James could be heard giving his son advice.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though […]. Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”
The game was also JJ Redick’s head coaching debut for the Lakers. He commented on the game, saying he was “thrilled to be a part” of the “historic” moment, and that he consulted both father and son to get their input on how they would prefer their first game together to go.
The Lakers drafted Bronny James with the 55th pick, giving him an $7.9 million, four-year deal.
Bronny James’ journey to the NBA has been complicated. The 6’2″ guard survived cardiac arrest in 2023 before going on to play his first-year season at the University of Southern California.
LeBron James is often argued to be the best NBA player in history as a four-time champion, 20-time All-Star, and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
Some are criticizing Bronny James’ appearance in the game. In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Rick Reilly argued that LeBron James should “pull the plug,” on his son’s presence in the NBA.
“If your dad is Tom Hanks, you get to act in movies. If your dad was Robert F. Kennedy, you get to run for president. But sports is not like that. Sports is the last true meritocracy,” Reilly wrote.
Bronny James did struggle in preseason for the Lakers, averaging 4.2 points on 29.7% shooting from the field.
However, the immediate response from the Lakers seemed positive. Teammate Anthony Davis said that watching the father-son duo play together gave him chills.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, something I will never forget,” commented LeBron James on what the moment meant to him. “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[…]. We had a job to do when we checked in[…]. We [weren’t] trying to make it a circus. We weren’t trying to make it about us. We wanted to make it about the team, for us to go out there and continue to play the game, the brand of basketball that the coaching staff and our teammates wanted us to play. We kept that. We kept the main thing while we was on the floor. And that was good for all of us.”
“I tried not to focus on everything that was going on around me and tried to focus on going in as a rookie and not trying to mess up […],” Bronny James said after the game. But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate the Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”
In the crowd that night were Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr., the first father-son duo to play together in major league baseball.
“To know that those guys will be in attendance tonight while me and Bronny are on the same team is a pretty cool moment in the history of sports,” LeBron James said.
Ken Griffey Jr. also reflected on the rarity of father-son duos in sports and how spectacular they can be.
“As my dad would say, you got to have longevity as an older guy, and your son has got to be pretty good to get there pretty quick,” Griffey Jr. said.
After the game, LeBron and Bronny James headed to the locker room together, stopping to hug Savannah James, LeBron’s wife and Bronny’s mother. The entire James family attended the game, including Zhuri James, who was celebrating her 10th birthday.
Bronny’s future with the Lakers is unclear. The Lakers have declined to comment on how long Bronny James will stay on the NBA roster. Just recently, it was revealed that he will likely be sent down to the G-League as he likely needs regular playing time to improve to an NBA standard of play, which will be difficult with the Lakers having three other smaller guards on the roster.
Nonetheless, the James family made history has lots to celebrate.
