LeBron James and his son Bronny face the Lakers’ first season together – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – When LeBron James and Bronny James walked from the scorer’s table to the court late in the second quarter of the Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they also made history.

LeBron and Bronny became the first father and son to play simultaneously in an NBA game during Tuesday night’s 110-103 win over the Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.

And they did it as partners, checking in together.

“The No. 1 mission was for us to come out, play well and win,” LeBron said. “The game within the game, obviously, that moment, being on the scorer’s table together and scoring together, that’s something I’ll never forget, no matter how old I get, no matter how much my memory fades as I that I’m getting old or whatever. I’ll never forget that moment.”

LeBron, 39, and Bronny, 20, entered the game together with four minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a standing ovation from a home crowd aware of the enormity of the milestone.

“I would say yes,” Bronny replied when asked if he was able to seize the moment. “I tried not to focus on everything that was going on around me and try to focus on coming in as a rookie and not trying to screw up. I totally felt the energy and I appreciate the Laker nation for showing their support for me and the my father.”

Bronny added about his NBA debut: “A little anxious going into it, like you say, first game stepping on the court. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but once I stepped on the court, I went up and down a couple of times, everything just disappeared.”

LeBron had already started the game and played 13 minutes before joining his son to make history.

“You’re all set? You see the intensity, right? Just play with no worries though,” the father told his son before checking in, an exchange caught on TNT’s cameras and microphones. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out there and play hard.”

They played 2 1/2 minutes on the court together, and LeBron missed two perimeter shots before making a dunk. Bronny had an early bounce and missed a spike.

Bronny’s first NBA jump shot was a 3-point attempt that fell way short. He exited with 1:19 left, receiving another standing ovation.

Both missed shots that would have counted as assists for the other during their brief time together.

Redick said throughout the preseason and even before Tuesday’s game that everyone wanted the duo’s first time together on the court to be natural and within the flow of the game.

“In the battle of the competition, I was wondering during a dead ball why everyone started cheering so loudly and then I realized what was going on,” Redick said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s great, that’s great.’ We felt like we could play those last few minutes with those two guys together. (Austin Reaves) was on the floor, (Anthony Davis) was on the floor, obviously LeBron was on the floor.presented an opportunity for Bronny.

“He’s played well, he’s competed throughout the preseason, just to give him a chance to get a regular season game going. He played well.”

There weren’t many firsts left to achieve for LeBron, the league’s all-time leading scorer and four-time MVP who is in his 22nd NBA season.

Tuesday offered a chance for at least one more.

“I don’t know if it’s going to affect both of us for a little minute where we’re really going to sit back and go, ‘Oh, wow, that was pretty, it’s crazy,'” LeBron said. “But right now, we still had a job to do when we signed up. we weren’t trying to make it about us. we wanted to talk about the team.

“To go out there and keep playing the game, the brand of basketball that the coaching staff and our teammates wanted us to play. We kept that. We kept the main one while we were on the ground. And that was good for all of us.”

After the game ended, father and son also headed to the locker room together, but not before stopping in the tunnel to hug Savannah James, LeBron’s wife and Bronny’s mother. The whole family attended to see the story, no less than on the 10th birthday of younger sister Zhuri.

While he said the moment they shared the court for the first time didn’t have to happen on the league’s opening night, the elder James said during the team’s morning round that the process leading up to moment he shared with his son has been a “place”.

“Just in the preseason, practice, every day,” LeBron said. “Just bringing him up to speed on what this professional life is and how to prepare every day as a professional.”

LeBron and Bronny also shared the court during the preseason in an exhibition game against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 6 in Palm Desert playing four minutes side by side.

But this was different because it was officially recorded in the record books.

LeBron spent some time Tuesday morning reflecting on the journey Bronny has been on leading up to Tuesday.

Bronny suffered cardiac arrest during training in July 2023 and underwent surgery before returning to the court and making his collegiate debut for USC in a Dec. 10 loss to Long Beach State.

Six months after his college debut, the Lakers selected Bronny with the 55th pick in the NBA draft in June

“When he’s able to grace an NBA floor, if it’s (Tuesday) or whenever it is, it’s going to be another one of those moments just to know the adversity that happened,” LeBron said. “I’ve had a couple of family members that have had heart surgery. And knowing how long it takes you to get back to yourself, seeing him be able to play in a Division I college game the same year he had heart surgery it was, like, a “wow” moment.

“And I knew at that point there really wasn’t going to be anything that was going to stop him from getting to that, anything that he wanted to do. And he wanted to keep playing basketball.”

Bronny said Monday that he still hasn’t been able to reflect on his trip.

“I don’t think there’s time to do all that,” said Bronny. “Especially when you’re checking out the heat of the moment, so I’ll probably take the time to do it later.”

There was another famous father-son duo that attended the history that LeBron and Bronny made.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. were at Tuesday’s game, following up on the younger Griffey’s comment to “People” magazine last summer that they would attend if the James duo played together.

The Griffeys became the first father-son teammates in MLB history with the Seattle Mariners in 1990.

“I’ve been a big fan of Ken Griffey Jr. and then became friends with Ken Griffey Jr. throughout my career,” LeBron said. “Just understanding the history of sports to be able to see what they were able to do … to be here (Tuesday) and know that these guys are going to be there while me and Bronny are on the same team is pretty cool. great moment in (the) history of sport”.

The Jameses and Griffeys got together during pregame warmups for some photos and a warm chat between two notable family lines.