Lebron James Junior, otherwise known as Bronny, probably would never have guessed he would end up playing on the same basketball team as his dad, Lebron James. On October 23, 2024 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Bronny joined his father in the Lakers vs. Timberwolves game. The first father-son duo to play on the same team, Bronny and LeBron are now teammates, but there is “one thing Bronny James isn’t allowed to call his father while they’re at work: Dad,” said the LA Times.
LeBron James is a 39-year-old, American basketball player,who is currently the NBA’s all-time leading scoring player with more than 40,000 points scored. He won NBA Championships for various teams, including the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Los Angeles Lakers, as stated in Britannica. However, he first rose to greatness back in high school when he was featured in the cover of Sports Illustrated for being the high school basketball player of the year.
Bronny James, the 20-year-old son of the famous basketball player, entered the draft when he was just a teenager after his college basketball season ended, and he was selected as the 55th overall pick for the NBA.
“I talked about it years and years ago, and for this moment to come, it’s pretty cool,” his father said.
With four minutes left on the clock of the game, LeBron and his son, Bronny, stepped out on the court toward the scorer’s table. Immediately the crowd erupted in fervor, as this was a highly anticipated moment that basketball fans and LeBron himself have been thinking about for years.
“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,” LeBron said in an article on CBS News.
While the duo only played together for two and a half minutes, the moment still had a huge impact for fans all over the world. The game ended with Lebron scoring 16 points overall and while his son didn’t score any, he assisted in a shot that ended up being a three-pointer.
Before the game, the two were greeted by Ken Griffy and Ken Griffy Jr., who were the first father-son team to play in Major League Baseball from 1990-1991. The pairs shared a short conversation, and were photographed together in the pregame warmups.
While it has been monumental for fans, some also attribute Bronny’s success to his last name. “I’ve heard stories that he’s not as good as he needs to be for an NBA player,” Jeffrey Koehler, the THS physical education teacher and award-winning coach, said. “He has to be pretty good anyway to be on an NBA team, but I think maybe his father had a little to do with that.” Moreover, Mr. Mirabito, THS social studies teacher and coach, agreed with Koehler: “There is no denying that his father’s influence expedited his arrival to the league and navigated his drafting by the Lakers specifically as other teams were discouraged from drafting him.”
In a historic game that united two generations on the same court, LeBron and Bronny James delivered a moment that will resonate through the NBA for years to come. For fans around the world, this brief but powerful father-son collaboration was a testament to LeBron’s enduring legacy and Bronny’s promising future in the league. While some debate whether Bronny’s rise was influenced by his father’s iconic status, there’s no denying the skill and dedication required to reach this level of play. As LeBron and Bronny continue their journeys—one a seasoned legend, the other a rising talent—their time as teammates, however fleeting, represents a rare milestone in sports history and a touching reminder of the powerful bond between father and son.
