LeBron James shared the court with his 20-year-old son Bronny and later called the moment ‘one of the greatest gifts’.
LeBron James and his son Bronny have made history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in a regular season NBA game in the Los Angeles Lakers’ season-opening win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The sold-out crowd let out a roar when 20-year-old Bronny came on alongside LeBron, who was reentering with four minutes to play in the first half of the game on Tuesday.
Bronny, who like many first-year players is not expected to see significant floor time this season, grabbed a rebound in his three minutes of action while LeBron contributed 16 points in the Lakers’ 110-103 win.
“It’s always been family over everything,” LeBron said alongside Bronny after the game.
“I lost a lot of time because of this league … so to be able to have this moment where I am working still and I can work alongside my son, it’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever got from the man above and I’m going to take full advantage of it.”
No father-son duo has ever played during the same NBA season, let alone on the same team. The pair appeared together during a preseason game earlier this month.
LeBron, 39, had long said one of his remaining goals in basketball was to play with his son, a guard selected with the 55th pick of the NBA Draft in June after one season at the University of Southern California.
History & a W pic.twitter.com/zKwrxGjjv3
— NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2024
LeBron, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a four-time champion and three-time Olympic gold medallist, is now in his 22nd NBA season and has yet to say when he plans to call time on his career.
Bronny, meanwhile, is looking to make a name for himself in the league he has grown up around with a father who has also played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.
“Going up to the scorer’s table and checking in for the first time was a crazy moment I will never forget,” Bronny said.
“I’m just extremely grateful for everything. I was given an amazing opportunity to come into this league and get better every day and learn every day.”
LeBron said he reminds his eldest son how fortunate they are to play in the NBA.
“This is not promised every day that you get to play in this beautiful league,” he said.
“There’s only 450 of us and you have to understand it’s not given to you, you have to earn every moment. I think he knows that and he looks forward to the process of getting better every single day to be the player he ultimately wants to be.
“I’m super proud of him. He’s my lifeline, that’s for sure.”