PALM DESERT, Calif. — LeBron James and his son, Bronny, made NBA historical past Sunday night time after they performed collectively for the primary time throughout the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason sport in opposition to Phoenix.
LeBron and Bronny are the primary father and son to play in any NBA sport on the identical time, not to mention on the identical staff. The James household’s outstanding second coincidentally occurred on Bronny’s twentieth birthday.
Bronny James entered the sport instead to start the second quarter, becoming a member of his father on the courtroom out of the timeout. The crowd at Acrisure Arena within the Coachella Valley cheered on the point out of Bronny’s identify.
LeBron James is starting his record-tying twenty second season within the NBA, whereas LeBron James Jr. — recognized to all as Bronny — was the Lakers’ second-round draft decide this summer season. After recovering from cardiac arrest over a yr in the past, Bronny performed only one season on the University of Southern California earlier than getting into the draft and becoming a member of the Lakers.
Bronny got here off for a substitute 4:09 into the second quarter, and LeBron got here off 25 seconds later on the subsequent lifeless ball.
Although LeBron will flip 40 in late December, the highest scorer in NBA historical past has proven no signal of slowing down with age. He has spoken for years about his longtime dream of taking part in within the NBA with certainly one of his sons, and the Lakers made it a actuality after they grabbed Bronny with the fifty fifth decide within the draft.
The 6-foot-2 Bronny is predicted to spend a lot of the upcoming season engaged on his sport with the South Bay Lakers of the G League, however he’ll virtually definitely get to play alongside his 6-foot-9 father in an actual sport early within the common season.
Head coach JJ Redick stated the Lakers have already got mentioned the logistics of the following historic second, however he hasn’t predicted when it would occur.
LeBron sat out of the Lakers’ preseason opener in opposition to Minnesota final Friday night time, resting up after a full week of coaching camp following a busy summer season. Bronny had two factors on 1-for-6 taking pictures and three blocked pictures whereas taking part in 16 minutes in opposition to the Timberwolves.
The Lakers have 4 extra preseason video games — all exterior Los Angeles whereas their residence area is being renovated — earlier than they start the common season at residence in opposition to Minnesota on Oct. 22.
LeBron was early in his second NBA season with the Cleveland Cavaliers when he and his highschool sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, turned dad and mom for the primary time in 2004. They had two extra youngsters — son Bryce and daughter Zhuri.
LeBron and Bronny have been getting ready for the prospect to play collectively ever since LeBron returned from a summer season trip after successful a gold medal with the U.S. staff on the Paris Olympics. Anthony Davis additionally made his preseason debut in opposition to the Suns after a equally busy summer season.
The father and son have scrimmaged collectively repeatedly throughout exercises on the Lakers’ coaching advanced, each as teammates and opponents. Redick stated they’ve even run pick-and-rolls collectively in preparation.
In the common season, they’ll be part of a brief checklist of fathers and sons who’ve shared a taking part in discipline in North American skilled sports activities. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. performed along with the Seattle Mariners throughout components of the 1990 and 1991 MLB seasons, whereas hockey nice Gordie Howe performed together with his sons Marty and Mark for the WHA’s Houston Aeros and the NHL’s Hartford Whalers.