LeBron James and his son Bronny made NBA history on Sunday night, marking the first time a father and son played together in an NBA game during the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason matchup against the Phoenix Suns. This historic moment coincided with Bronny’s 20th birthday.
LeBron, 39, expressed how meaningful the experience was for both of them and their family. “It’s definitely a moment I’ll never forget. As a father, it means everything,” he said. He added that being able to have a positive influence on his son and share these moments is one of the greatest things a father could hope for.
Bronny shared his surreal experience of playing alongside his father, saying, “It felt like being in The Matrix. It just didn’t feel real. But it was great to have those moments.”
Bronny took to the court as a substitute early in the second quarter and joined LeBron after a timeout. Their initial outing had some hiccups, with both committing turnovers in the first two minutes. However, LeBron successfully made a 3-pointer and attempted to assist Bronny with a screen on another 3-point shot, which Bronny missed.
After about four minutes on the court together, Bronny was pulled from the game, shortly followed by LeBron. In the first half, LeBron recorded 19 points, five rebounds, and four assists over 16 minutes, watching the second half from the bench with teammate Anthony Davis.
LeBron is starting his record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, while his son Bronny was this summer’s second-round draft pick of the Lakers. Following a recovery from cardiac arrest more than a year ago, Bronny played one season at Southern California before entering the draft.
Lakers coach JJ Redick mentioned before the game that the duo would play together based on the flow of the game, rather than forcing it for a gimmick. He expressed his excitement about being part of this historic moment.
During the second half, Bronny logged around nine minutes but did not take any additional shots in the Lakers’ 118-114 loss to the Suns. He is expected to spend a significant portion of the upcoming season developing his skills with the South Bay Lakers in the G League, though he will likely get to play alongside his father in the regular season soon.
Redick noted that the team has already talked about the logistics of facilitating more moments like this but did not specify a timeline for when it might happen again. Despite turning 40 in late December, LeBron, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, has shown no signs of decline and has expressed his dream of playing in the league with one of his sons, which has now been realized with Bronny, chosen with the 55th pick.
LeBron had rested for the preseason opener against Minnesota to recover from a busy summer and full training camp. In that match, Bronny scored two points with one successful shot out of six attempts and recorded three blocked shots during his 16 minutes of play.
The Lakers have four more preseason games scheduled, all hosted outside Los Angeles due to renovations at their home arena, before starting the regular season at home against Minnesota on October 22.