Father, son and sports form a bond that predates the NBA history made Tuesday night and will surely outlast it.
Smile or giggle, it can’t be denied that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and his son-turned-teammate, Bronny, created a unique part of the series by becoming the first father and son to play together in the association.
Forget Christmas. Bring a child to work, the day came early.
While the 39-year-old James will at least get the opportunity to suit up with his 20-year-old self for this season, he certainly enjoyed the novelty on Tuesday. He did so when he helped the Lakers defeat the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, which – exhale now, haters – was the focus for a national TV broadcast.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” NBA analyst Shaquille O’Neal on TNT said after the game, “the Lakers did a great job of doing what they wanted in the paint.”
Accomplishing that objective also required a meaningful moment on the Lakers bench. With four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the James Gang entered the game to a standing ovation.
Moments earlier, as captured by TNT, LeBron gave advice to Bronny, a second-round pick out of USC.
“You feel the intensity, right?” LeBron said. “Play carefree, though. Don’t worry about mistakes. Go out and play hard.”
Los Angeles was leading by 16 points when Brown entered the game. He took 2:41 minutes before returning to the bench, a stint that satisfied the crowd, put a big checkmark on rookie coach JJ Redick’s to-do list and offered an almost iconic moment.
Alas, Bronny missed an open 3-pointer from the left wing on a quick pass from his pops. Box-score-wise, Bronny finished 0-for-2 from the floor with offensive rebounds and a minus-five rating, but very little nuance was recorded with LeBron.
“That was something I will never forget, no matter how old I get or how much my memory fades,” He said“Everything was great today. Everything.”
Bronny agreed.
“Going to the scorer’s table with my dad and checking in for the first time — that’s a crazy moment I’ll never forget,” he said.
Fellow L.A. rookie Dalton Knecht, Tennessee’s first-rounder, played 16 minutes Thursday, the second-most among a Lakers reserve.
O’Neal’s TNT counterpart, Charles Barkley, spent far more time analyzing Knecht’s contributions than Browne, a trend that is likely to continue this season.
Bronny averaged 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds during the preseason, while shooting just 20% from the floor, which suggests he may be in for some seasoning with the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League.
Bronny was just a few months old when LeBron announced he was taking his talents to South Beach. Tuesday presented a remarkable full-circle moment.
“For me, I wasted a lot of time because of this league,” LeBron said, “to be committed to this league, to be on the road … to be able to get to this moment where I’m still working And I can work with it, my son – it’s one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received from the man above. I’ll take full advantage of it.”
