LeBron and Bronny James made NBA history on Tuesday, becoming the first father-and-son duo to play alongside each other in a regular season fixture as the Los Angeles Lakers opened their campaign against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The duo, who played together briefly in a pre-season game earlier this month, took to the court together late in the second quarter at the Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers leading 51-35.
An enormous roar went up from the home crowd as the James duo were brought onto the court by coach J.J. Redick after the Lakers had surged into a double-digit lead.
In a perfectly scripted moment that was pure Hollywood, the James’ double-act was watched at courtside by Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr, who made baseball history playing for the Seattle Mariners as father and son in 1990-1991.
“We made history; now we get to watch history,” said Griffey Jr., who joined his father to pose for photos with LeBron and Bronny James shortly before Tuesday’s tip-off.
Lakers officials had been coy before Tuesday’s season-opener about where and when LeBron James and Bronny would play their first regular season fixture together.
However NBA superstar LeBron James, who turns 40 in December, admitted in pre-game remarks that he could scarcely contain his excitement at the prospect of realising his long-cherished dream of sharing a court with his son.
“Just to run out the tunnel knowing that he’ll be in uniform, run out the tunnel with him, see him warm up, and be out there with the rest of my teammates,” James told reporters during a morning shoot-around on Tuesday.
“This is my 22nd time running out on opening night so I don’t know how many times I’ll have an opportunity, how many times I’ve got left to run out. I won’t take it for granted.”
Anticipation about the James double-act has dominated the Lakers’ preparations for the new season since Bronny James was selected by the franchise with the 55th pick in the draft in June.
‘It’s been a treat’
Bronny James, 20, is expected to spend most of his rookie season in the developmental G-League rather than the Lakers senior squad.
LeBron James however said Tuesday that he had relished being able to accompany his son on his first steps into professional basketball.
“It’s been a treat and just in preseason, the practices, just every day,” James said. “The plane rides, the bus rides of being with him and showing him the ropes, along with his teammates and coaches. Just what this professional life is all about and how to prepare every day … super-duper cool.”
Bronny James’ ascent to the ranks of the NBA has been made all the more remarkable given that just over a year ago he suffered a cardiac arrest during a workout with his University of Southern California college team-mates.
James Sr. said his son’s swift recovery from that life-threatening episode had convinced him that he would one day play in the NBA.
“To see him play in a college Division I game the same year he had heart surgery … I knew that at that moment that there really was going to be nothing to stop him from anything that he wants to do,” James said.
Bronny said at the Lakers recent media day he was fuelled by the words of critics who have suggested he owes his place on the Lakers roster entirely to his superstar father.
“I’m just taking all that stuff, that criticism and backlash that people have given me and turning it into something that can fuel me,” he said.