LOS ANGELES – The James family made history Tuesday night when patriarch LeBron James and his eldest son Bronny appeared in the identical regular-season game. This marked the primary time a father-son duo shared the court within the NBA's 79th season. Annual anniversary.
In the 2024/25 season opener, during which the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-103, the massive moment occurred when LeBron and Bronny emerged from the bench together to start out the sport 4:00 minutes before the tip of the second quarter come.
At this point the Lakers were leading 51:35 and LeBron had already scored six points with three rebounds. The father and son took off their warmup jerseys after approaching the scorer's table for a stint that lasted 2:31.
“During the dead ball, I wondered why everyone was cheering so loudly, and then I realized what was going on,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We played through the game and it was supposed to be towards the end of the first half and the game gave (Bronny) an opportunity to get a few minutes.”
Bronny gave up a fast basket to Julius Randle, had his first shot blocked by reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert after which tried but missed a shot on a pass from LeBron about 1:40 before halftime. Bronny guarded All-Star Anthony Edwards and compelled a miss on the Lakers' next defensive possession.
During their transient time together, LeBron, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, managed a baseline dunk ahead of Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr., who know a thing or two about famous father-son duos.
“Are you ready? Just play carefree…go on the market and play hard.”
Year 22 with some advice for the first yr. https://t.co/SKNTEA4gkQ pic.twitter.com/g5Trgujjzt
– NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2024
When Bronny was substituted with 1:29 left before halftime, Los Angeles public address announcer Lawrence Tanter called attention to what had happened, telling the sellout crowd that he had “just witnessed history.”
“I’ll never forget that moment when we sat together at the scorer’s table and checked in together,” said LeBron. “No matter how old I get, no matter how much my memory fades as I get older or whatever, I will never forget this moment.”
The remainder of the James family — wife and mother Savannah, son and brother Bryce, daughter and sister Zhuri, who turned 10 on Tuesday — sat on the baseline near the Laker bench. LeBron became emotional while talking about her as a part of the milestone he and Bronny reached.
“Everything was great today,” said LeBron. “Everything, from the moment I woke up. I saw my daughter before she went to school. I went to work and saw my son at work. Come to the game, everything, man.”
Bronny, who went scoreless in those three minutes and didn’t return, said he tried “not to focus on everything that was going on around me; I'm focused on coming in as a newbie and trying not to make a mistake.
“I was a little worried at first,” said Bronny, whom the Lakers drafted at No. 55 in June. “The first game on the pitch is a little nerve-wracking. But once we got on the court, we walked up and down a few times, then it was all over and I felt pretty good.”
“Family above all else” 🤞👑@KingJames and Bronny caught up @TaylorRooks after their win against Minnesota! pic.twitter.com/8mnV7Y9kA9
– NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 23, 2024
The game itself belonged to Anthony Davis, who opened with an enormous 36 points and 16 rebounds in 37 minutes. Edwards led the Timberwolves with 27 points and five three-pointers. Davis now has 100 games with a minimum of 25 points and 15 rebounds.
LeBron finished the sport with 16 points, five rebounds and 4 assists. Rui Hachimura added 18 points for the Lakers. The game and the win were the very first thing that mattered to Redick on the Lakers' bench, and when he won his first game he was greeted by his players with the customary water bottle shower. The team hired him in the summertime after a season as an NBA broadcaster for ESPN and a 15-year playing profession before that.
Edwards led the Timberwolves with 27 points and five three-pointers. Randle, the previous Laker who was traded to Minnesota from the New York Knicks in September as a part of the blockbuster deal for Karl-Anthony Towns, finished with 16 points and nine rebounds in his Wolves debut.
“This is the first time we had a LeBron moment that was really special, and we won,” Davis said, referring, amongst other things, to the Lakers' loss the night LeBron Kareem Abdul- Jabbar overtook because the league's top scorer.
The simultaneous check-in between LeBron and Bronny marked the primary time in NBA history that a father and son appeared together in an actual game, and it was only the fourth time in modern major American skilled sports. LeBron and Bronny, who briefly appeared together in a preseason game on October 6, joined NHL players Howes, father Gordie and sons Mark and Marty with the 1979-80 Hartford Whalers, Tim Raines Sr. and Tim Raines Jr. ( Baltimore Orioles, 2001) and the Griffeys (Seattle Mariners, 1990).
The Griffeys, who had a pregame meal with Nike executives at Smashburger at LA Live, sat under the basket at the opposite end of the court from the Lakers' bench. Ken Sr. and Ken Jr. hugged LeBron and Bronny (remember, Bronny's birth name is LeBron) and posed for photos before the sport.
“Right now we had a job to do,” LeBron said. “We didn't try to make it a circus, we didn't try to make it about ourselves. We wanted it to be about the team.”
This is LeBron's twenty second season, tying him with Vince Carter for probably the most seasons in NBA history. At age 39, LeBron has won 4 NBA championships, won 4 league MVPs, began a record 20 All-Star Games and won his third Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Paris, amongst other achievements.
Bronny, 20, was in eighth grade when his father joined the Lakers and the family moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles full-time. He mentioned that LeBron leading the Cavaliers to the NBA title in 2016 and helping lead Team USA's comeback against Serbia within the Olympic semifinals last summer were the 2 most inspiring things he saw his father do on the court.
“Both of them made me think, 'This is a crazy sport, I really want to be a part of it,'” Bronny said.
Bronny survived heart surgery in the summertime of 2023 and played for the USC Trojans last season. Although he mostly struggled as a task player, the Lakers not only drafted Bronny, but additionally gave him a four-year, $7.9 million contract – a rarity for somebody chosen so low within the draft.
“We had a moment when he got drafted, we all had the opportunity to be together as a family in New York,” LeBron said. “We had a moment because we were just thinking about the fact that the horror happened not so long ago. …And when he's able to walk into an NBA stadium, whether it's tonight or whenever, it'll be another one of those moments where he gets to know the adversity he's been through.
“Some of my family members have had heart surgeries. Some of them older, some younger. And knowing how long it takes to get back to yourself and seeing him be able to play in a Division I college game the same year he had heart surgery was a ” “Wow” moment. And I knew in that moment that there really was nothing that will stop him from achieving that – anything he desired to do. And he desired to keep playing basketball.”
LeBron illustrated his son's desire to remain on the court by recalling Bronny's first words after heart surgery that followed a cardiac arrest he suffered while training with the Trojans two summers ago.
“One of the primary things he asked the doctors after his heart surgery was, 'When can I play again?'” LeBron said. “Not like, 'How long will it take for my heart to heal?' Or not: “How long was I in surgery?” None of that. He asked, 'When can I play again?'”
Bronny's debut wasn't quite as explosive as his father's first game as a pro. On October 29, 2003, LeBron scored 25 points with six boards and nine assists for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Sacramento, months after they made him the No. 1 pick of the draft.
When the G League season begins next month, the Lakers are expected to shuttle Bronny back and forth between the NBA and their South Bay affiliate. If Bronny doesn't play in the G League, he probably won't play a big role with the Lakers, at least initially.
“I talked about this many years ago. And for that moment, that’s pretty cool,” LeBron said. “I don’t know if it will affect either of us for even a minute.”
At halftime, the Lakers honored the late Jerry West with a tribute video. West, who died June 12 at age 86, is one of the Lakers' greatest ever players and led the franchise to six championships as general manager.
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