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 Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

And they did it as partners, checking in together.

LeBron and Bronny 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. 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 in the second quarter, receiving another standing ovation.

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

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, the 39-year-old four-time league MVP who is in his 22nd season, spent some time Tuesday morning reflecting on the journey Bronny took leading up to Tuesday.

Bronny, 20 years old, 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 Jameses 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.