LeBron James and his son, Bronny, are the first father-son duo in NBA history.
The Lakers teammates shared the court together in the second quarter of Tuesday’s opener against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, where mom Savannah and Bronny’s siblings Zhuri and Bryce were also in attendance.
The two actually checked onto the court together after a stoppage in play, allowing fans to applaud the NBA legend and his son, a second-round rookie out of Southern California.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, and guard Bronny James warm up Tuesday
No father-and-son duo has ever taken the court at the same time in an NBA game, a rare occurrence in any major North American sport.
In the 1970s and 1980s, hockey legend Gordie Howe played with sons Marty and Mark for the WHA’s Houston Eros and the NHL’s Hartford Whalers. Then there was Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines and his namesake, who played four games together with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.
More importantly, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. were teammates with the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991. In fact, the pair hit back-to-back home runs during a game in September 1990, when they were 40 and 20, respectively.
The pair had such fond memories of their time together that they decided to attend Tuesday’s match at the Crypto.com Arena.
Ken Griffey Jr. (left) played alongside his son and namesake during the 1990 season
A little fatherly advice as hockey great Gordie Howe accepts a golden puck from his sons and teammates Mark and Marty Howe (c) in recognition of his 1,000th goal
The fact that the James family is joining that list is somewhat surprising considering Bronny’s health issues last summer. LeBron’s eldest suffered cardiac arrest while training at the University of Southern California before undergoing emergency surgery to correct a congenital heart defect. As a result, Bronny missed USC’s preseason training camp and the first month of the season.
Ultimately, Bronny struggled to find his rhythm and averaged just 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his lone college season before electing to declare for the NBA Draft.
Bronny played in all six of the Lakers’ preseason games, but his 4.2 points per game average was vastly improved by his 17-point performance in last week’s preseason finale, in which the Lakers and Warriors both won the rested most of their key players.
Bronny hit 29.7 percent of his shots in the preseason while averaging 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists and playing 16.2 minutes per game. His defensive work was praised by Redick, who sees the 6-foot-1 guard becoming a solid perimeter player in the future.
“I’ve had some bad games, some tough starts, so I just kept up my game and played hard,” Bronny said ahead of Tuesday’s opener.
Bronny is not expected to be an immediate rotation player for the Lakers, who already have 2023 first-round pick D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino ahead of him at point guard.
There’s a good chance Bronny will start the season with the Lakers before heading to the G League to get the consistent playing time he likely needs to improve.
But he’s still excited to reach this milestone moment — and he’s even pretty sure what he’ll call his dad on the court after LeBron banned him from using “Dad.”
“Probably Bron,” Bronny said, smiling. “That’ll probably be the easiest.”
