LeBron James and Bronny become 1st father-son pair to play together in NBA history

LeBron James and his eldest son Bronny are officially the first father-son duo to take the court together in NBA history.

The accomplishment teased for years and locked in at the 2024 NBA Draft came to pass in the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. The elder James was in the starting lineup, but needed to wait until eight minutes into the second quarter for his son to make an appearance.

Once the pair checked in, they received a knowing ovation:

Some microphones also caught LeBron offering some fatherly advice before the two checked in.

The two took the court together earlier in preseason, with LeBron later tweeting it was “SURREAL.” You can only wonder how Tuesday felt, especially after so many years of anticipation.

LeBron James has pushed to play with Bronny for years

LeBron had hinted for years that he planned to play alongside his son, even going so far as to say he would spend his final season paying with Bronny in 2022, when Bronny was a high-school junior. Even for a four-star recruit like Bronny, those are high expectations.

Bronny’s path to the NBA wound up being more turbulent than expected. He chose to stay close to home and play for USC in college, but a congenital heart defect significantly delayed his debut and he was a little more than a reserve when he did start playing, averaging 4.8 points in 19.6 minutes per game.

Still, the child of LeBron James is going to attract attention from NBA front offices. Bronny was one of the biggest enigmas of the draft, with shared agent Rich Paul publicly insisting there was no behind-the-scenes engineering to ensure LeBron would play with his son. Regardless, few were surprised when the Lakers selected Bronny with the 55th overall pick.

There was some question if Bronny would see NBA action immediately considering he is essentially an end-of-the-bench player for the Lakers, but the team decided to get the father-son history out of the way quickly.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. in attendance to welcome LeBron and Bronny to a small club

Two of the few people who understand what Tuesday’s moment meant for the James family were in attendance at Crypto.com Arena.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr., who played together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991, opted to watch the history together.

Across major North American sports history, the list of fathers and sons who have played together are few and decades between. Gordie Howe was the first to do it when he played with his sons Mark and Marty for the 1979-1980 Hartford Whalers. The Griffeys followed in the 90s, then Tim Raines Sr. and Jr did it in 2001 on the Baltimore Orioles.

In all those preceding cases, however, it was an aging and out-of-his-prime father making his way to where his son or sons were playing. LeBron is the only one who brought his son to him.

What else can Bronny James do in the NBA?

For Bronny, playing legitimate professional sports with your father is an experience few people ever get to do. However, it’s probably not the primary reason he chose this line of work.

If Bronny wants to have a long-term NBA career — if he wants to be known for anything other than being the son of LeBron James — he has a lot of work ahead of him. It’s not unfair to say that players with Bronny’s background, save for his parenting, rarely make an NBA court, and even more rarely enjoy a career past their rookie contract.

Bronny was not a five-star talent in high school. He was not a star in college, or even a starter. He has a very real health issue with his heart. He also doesn’t have the size that would allow him to follow in his father’s footsteps as a versatility monster.

The early returns on Bronny have not been encouraging either. He looked brutal in Summer League, when he shot 32.7% from the field and 13% from 3-point range, and wasn’t much better in preseason, shooting 29.4%. The Lakers also opted against having him handle primary ballhandling duties during Summer League.

Simply put, guards who can’t shoot, aren’t their team’s top ballhandler and are listed at a generous 6-foot-4 don’t last long in the NBA. However, the important part isn’t evaluating what Bronny is right now. It’s evaluating what he can be.

Even though he signed a guaranteed four-year NBA contract — another rarity for players of his stature — Bronny has said he is open to playing in the G League and the Lakers will likely take him up on that rather than try to drop him into the rotation immediately, Tuesday night notwithstanding. With a season or two of development, Bronny would could progress in a way that wasn’t possible in his abbreviated college career.