LeBron James and his son, Bronny James, made history by becoming the first father-son duo to play together in an NBA game during the Los Angeles Lakers‘ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
The two entered the game with four minutes left in the second quarter. Prior to that, though, a mic caught LeBron giving his son a little pep talk on the sidelines.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though. Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard,” LeBron said.
What an incredible moment. A completely forced moment by the entire Los Angeles Lakers organization. But an incredible moment nonetheless.
LeBron: "You ready?"
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2024
Bronny: "Yup."
This LeBron and Bronny moment mic’d up ❤️🎙️ pic.twitter.com/ffzTOoIdCx
How Did He Do?
Bronny James must have taken his father LeBron’s advice to heart. Despite the “intensity” he certainly played “carefree” and didn’t “worry about mistakes.”
Bronny’s NBA regular season debut stat line saw him play 3 minutes, scoring 0 points on 0 for 2 shooting and dishing out 0 assists. But he did manage to grab one board.
Bronny entered the game with 4 minutes to play in the first half. Coach J.J. Redick presumably felt comfortable putting the rookie second-round draft pick in with a 16-point lead.
During the three minutes he played, the Timberwolves cut their deficit by 5 points according to the +/- line.
“I tried not to focus on everything that was going on around me and tried to focus on going in as a rookie and not trying to mess up,” Bronny would say after messing up. “But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate the Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”
I cried 🙂↔️🙂↔️ history 👑🔥 https://t.co/6QjhpAOilm pic.twitter.com/a9tsW2RZpo
— East Davian 😈🌎 (@East_Davian12) October 23, 2024
RELATED: Bronny James Scores Major Magazine Cover, Promptly Doubles His Pre-Season Total With 2 Points
LeBron And Bronny James Share A Special Moment
Despite the offensive woes, LeBron celebrated the moment as a father. As he should. He described it as an unforgettable moment.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, something I will never forget,” LeBron James said in a joint postgame news conference with Bronny.
“No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”
The Lakers likely won’t either. They wasted a second-round draft pick and a 4-year, $7.9 million guaranteed contract on a guy who couldn’t even hold a starting job at USC last year.
But hey, they owe it to the James family to tank their season to indulge in LeBron’s fantasies. Just ask Stephen A. Smith.
“For us to look at something that he wants and say, ‘Excuse me can we do that for him?’ Yes, we can. Not just the Lakers, but NBA fans everywhere,” Smith said. “Yes, we owe it to LeBron James.”
No, we don’t.
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