LEBRON and Bronny James made history by being on the court together in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Lakers season opener.
The 20-year-old Bronny made his NBA debut and joined his father on the court during the second quarter of the Lakers’ 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
LeBron and Bronny enter the game during the Lakers’ season-opening win[/caption]
LeBron and Bronny became the first father-son duo in NBA history to appear in a game.
They checked into the game with 4:00 left in the second quarter.
The pair got up from the bench and walked to the scorer’s table, leading to the Crypto.com Arena crowd cheering.
LeBron and the 2024 second-round pick Bronny tore off their warmup attire to step onto the court.
Bronny played two-and-a-half minutes in his first and only showing in the game.
The Lakers would claim the victory, and LeBron spoke to reporters about the historical achievement.
“It’s family. It’s always been family over everything,” LeBron said in a joint postgame press conference with Bronny.
“I lost a lot of time because of this league, committing to this league, being on the road at times, missing his things. … So to be able to have this moment where I’m working still and I can work alongside my son, it’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever gotten from the man above, and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”
As for Bronny, he opened up on his mentality during the milestone.
“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,” the USC product said.
“But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate the Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”
The Lakers were outscored 7-2 in their first appearance together.
Bronny missed a three-pointer and was blocked by center Rudy Gobert on a tip-in attempt after grabbing an offensive rebound.
He finished 0 for 2 from the field and recorded one rebound.
LeBron and Bronny interviewed after the game by TNT’s Taylor Rooks[/caption]
LeBron recorded 16 points, five rebounds, and six assists.
LeBron and Bronny’s Tuesday appearance made the moment official in the record books.
They previously played together on the court at the same time in an October preseason game.
Bronny will now hope to post his first points in the NBA when the Lakers next face the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.
He struggled in the preseason, averaging 4.2 points on 29.7 percent from the field.
Bronny did finish the exhibition games on a high note, scoring 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting with four rebounds and three steals last week.
