LOS ANGELES — In the annals of father-and-son experiences, a now-historic one must be added to the list.
LeBron James and son Bronny became the first father-and-son duo to play in the same NBA game Tuesday on opening night. Bronny made his debut with four minutes remaining in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves after checking into the game with his father.
The crowd at Crypto.com Arena began cheering as soon as LeBron and Bronny walked toward the scorer’s table — and then the crowd got louder.
‘I totally did feel the energy,” Bronny said after the game, ‘and, yeah, I appreciate the Laker Nation for showing the support for me.”
It marked the first time a father and son have played in the same NBA game, much less as teammates. LeBron, 39, and Bronny, 20, wore Lakers purple and gold – their version of matching outfits on family picture day. LeBron said he’ll never forget the moment.
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‘No matter how old I get, how my memory may fade…’ LeBron said. ‘I would never forget that moment.’
To the delight of the crowd, LeBron and Bronny checked into the game together with the Lakers leading 51-35. All eyes were on father and son.
The crowd let out a sound of disappointment when Bronny passed rather than take his first open shot. Later came a collective, ”ohhhhhhhhhh.”
That was the sound after Bronny missed an open 3-pointer. He was credited with another shot, a tip that was blocked by Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert. He also was credited with an offensive rebound but the box score will show no evidence of another notable moment.
At one point, Bronny found himself guarding Minnesota star Anthony Edwards and Edwards missed a shot.
With 1:19 left in the half, Bronny checked out of the game, with the Lakers leading 53-42. He did not re-enter the game.
‘I felt pretty good,” Bronny said about his time on the court. ”I was a little anxious going into it.”
Bronny spoke while sitting next to LeBron, who had recalled anxiety from his own first NBA game in 2003.
‘Like you said,” Bronny remarked, referring to his father, ‘that first game, stepping on the court, it was a little nerve-wracking. But once I stepped on the court, got up and down a couple times, it all went away. So yeah, I felt pretty good.”
But LeBron said their focus was not on history when they took the court together.
‘We wasn’t trying to make it a circus,” he said. ‘We wasn’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 brand of basketball the coaching staff and our teammates wanted us to play.”
Among the throng of fans in attendance was another father-son duo — former MLB stars Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., who played their first game together with the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 31, 1990.
When told the Griffeys planned to be in attendance for the historic moment, Bronny was thrilled.
‘It’s going to be insane,’ he said. ‘Only two families to do it, so it’s going to be a crazy experience, especially with what they’ve done.’
In recent years, LeBron, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, talked about his desire to play with his oldest son.
For a while, it seemed that may not happen. Almost 15 months ago, Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest that left his health and basketball career in question. At the time he was preparing for his freshman season at Southern California.
He made his season debut nine games into a trying season.
After averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists at Southern California, Bronny declared for the NBA draft despite questions about his readiness for professional basketball.
The Lakers picked him in the second round with the 55th overall selection.
LeBron and Bronny took the court together during the first game of what turned out to be a challenging preseason for Bronny. In six games, he was 9-of-37 from the field, including 1-for-12 from 3-point range. But he demonstrated athleticism and intelligence on defense before the 2024-25 regular season commenced.
‘… It’s been a treat, and just in preseason, the practices, just every day … just bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about and how to prepare every day as a professional,’ LeBron said after Lakers shootaround Tuesday morning, according to ESPN.
Follow reporter Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11
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