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LeBron, Bronny James Make History as NBA's 1st Father-son Duo to Play Together

LeBron, Bronny James Make History as NBA's 1st Father-son Duo to Play Together
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LeBron, Bronny James Make History as NBA's 1st Father-son Duo to Play Together

LeBron, Bronny James Make History as NBA's 1st Father-son Duo to Play Together

LeBron James and Bronny James became the first father and son to play in the NBA together Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Lakers ' season opener.
LeBron and Bronny checked into the game together with four minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a big ovation from a home crowd aware of the enormity of the milestone. The 39-year-old LeBron had already started the game and played 13 minutes before he teamed up with his 20-year-old son to make history, The Associated Press reported.
LeBron James is the top scorer in NBA history, while LeBron James Jr. was a second-round pick by the Lakers last summer. They are the first father and son to play in the world's top basketball league at the same time, let alone on the same team.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though,” father told son on the bench before they checked in, an exchange captured by the TNT cameras and microphones. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”
LeBron and Bronny played 2 1/2 minutes on court together, and LeBron missed two perimeter shots before making a dunk. Bronny had an early rebound and missed a tip-in.
Bronny's first NBA jump shot was a 3-pointer that came up just short. He checked out with 1:19 left in the second quarter, getting another ovation.
Bronny didn't play again in the Lakers' 110-103 victory over Minnesota. LeBron, who scored 16 points, did an on-court interview with Bronny before they headed to the Lakers' locker room together — but not before stopping in the tunnel to hug Savannah James, LeBron's wife and Bronny's mother.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. were courtside at the Lakers' downtown arena to witness the same history they made in Major League Baseball. The two sluggers played 51 games together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991 as baseball's first father-son duo.
The Jameses and the Griffeys met up during pregame warmups for some photos and a warm chat between two remarkable family lines.
LeBron, a four-time NBA champion and a 20-time All-Star, first spoke about his dream to play alongside Bronny a few years ago, while his oldest son was still in high school. The dream became real after Bronny entered the draft as a teenager following one collegiate season, and the Lakers grabbed him with the 55th overall pick.
“It’s been a treat,” LeBron said at Tuesday’s morning shootaround. “In preseason, the practices, just every day ... bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about, and how to prepare every day as a professional.”
LeBron and Bronny joined a small club of father-son professional athletes who played together. The Griffeys made history 34 years ago, and they even homered in the same game on Sept. 14, 1990.
Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines and his namesake son also accomplished the feat with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.
In hockey, Gordie Howe played alongside his two sons, Mark and Marty, with the WHA’s Houston Aeros and Team Canada before one NHL season together on the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, when Gordie was 51.
While the other family pairings on this list happened late in the fathers’ careers, LeBron shows no signs of slowing down or regressing as he begins his NBA record-tying 22nd season.
LeBron averaged more than 25 points per game last year for his 20th consecutive season, and he remains the most important player on the Lakers alongside Anthony Davis as they attempt to recapture the form that won a championship in 2020 and got them to the Western Conference finals in 2023.
Bronny survived cardiac arrest and open heart surgery in the summer of 2023, and he went on to play a truncated freshman season at the University of Southern California. He declared for the draft anyway, and the Lakers eagerly used the fourth-to-last pick in the draft on the 6-foot-2 guard.
LeBron spent the summer in Europe with the gold medal-winning US team at the Paris Olympics, while Bronny played for the Lakers in summer league. They started practicing together with the Lakers before training camp.
The duo first played together in the preseason, logging four minutes during a game against Phoenix just outside Palm Springs earlier this month.
The Lakers were fully aware of the history they would make with this pairing, and coach JJ Redick spoke with the Jameses recently about a plan to make it happen early in the regular season.
The presence of the Griffeys likely made it an inevitability for opening night, even though Redick said the Lakers still wanted it “to happen naturally, in the flow of the game.”
The Lakers have declined to speculate on how long Bronny will stay on their NBA roster. Los Angeles also has point guards D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino, which likely makes minutes scarce for Bronny, who likely needs regular playing time to raise his game to a consistent NBA standard.
Those factors add up to indicate Bronny is likely to end up with the affiliate South Bay Lakers of the G League at some point soon. LeBron and Redick have both spoken positively about the South Bay team, saying that player development is a key part of the Lakers organization.
Miami forward Kevin Love, who knew all the James children — Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri — from his time as LeBron James’ teammate in Cleveland, said it was “an unbelievable moment” to see father and son playing together.
“I grew up a Mariners fan, so I got to see Griffey and then Griffey Sr. But this is different, because LeBron is still a top-five player in the league,” Love said. “This game, man. It’s why we have that ($76 billion) TV deal. The storylines and the things that happen like this, it’s an unbelievable story. This is really cool to see.”

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Move over Messi and Ronaldo. A New Generation of Soccer Stars Is Lining up to Win the Ballon d'Or

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior looks on during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, in Madrid, Spain, 22 October 2024. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior looks on during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, in Madrid, Spain, 22 October 2024. (EPA)
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Move over Messi and Ronaldo. A New Generation of Soccer Stars Is Lining up to Win the Ballon d'Or

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior looks on during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, in Madrid, Spain, 22 October 2024. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior looks on during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, in Madrid, Spain, 22 October 2024. (EPA)

No Lionel Messi. No Cristiano Ronaldo.

When the Ballon d'Or is presented at a gala ceremony in Paris on Monday, it will feel like the start of a new era in football. There is also a sense of void now that one of sport's most engrossing rivalries is likely over.

"It's interesting that as it starts to come to an end, we are sort of saying, what's the next equivalent rivalry going to be," soccer author Jonathan Wilson told The Associated Press. "As if that kind of rivalry was a natural state. But there's never been a rivalry like that before."

Messi and Ronaldo won football's most prestigious individual award a combined 13 times over a 16-year period of unprecedented dominance. Neither has been nominated this year.

Instead, Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior is the favorite to be crowned the world's best player and become the first winner born this century.

He underlined his credentials this week with a stunning Champions League hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund.

"Vinicius had an incredible season where he was a key player... he proved he's the best player in the world," Madrid teammate Lucas Vazquez said.

But rather than Vinicius spearheading a new era of dominance, it seems likely the award will revert to a time before Messi and Ronaldo when multiple winners were relatively rare.

France great Zinedine Zidane, for instance, only won it once. The same goes for Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Luis Figo and George Best. Originally limited to European players, it was never won by Pele or Diego Maradona.

Before Messi, the last player to win back-to-back awards was Dutch striker Marco van Basten in 1988 and '89.

Messi won a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or last year after leading Argentina to triumph at the World Cup in 2022. Wilson, who wrote about the history of Argentinian football in his book "Angels With Dirty Faces," sees no obvious successor to the Barcelona great, now at Inter Miami.

"Messi's been phenomenal for 17, 18 years," he said. "It's not a pure tallying process, but in terms of greatness over a protracted period, Messi is the greatest there has ever been by quite some margin.

"I don't think there's anybody in the world now who has anything remotely close to that talent."

Such was the dominance of Messi and Ronaldo, not only would Vinicius Junior become the first winner born this century, but there has never even been a recipient born in the '90s.

Vinicius Junior, whose goals helped Madrid to a record-extending 15th European Cup last season, is part of a new generation of stars that are flourishing as Messi and Ronaldo reach the final stages of their careers.

Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal make up a field of contenders who could challenge for years to come.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri is second favorite to win this year and would become the first player born in the '90s to take the award.

Mbappe, who has long-been seen as the heir to Messi and Ronaldo as the world's best player, was born in 1998, meaning it's likely there will eventually be a winner from that decade even if Rodri misses out.

The only other winners since Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008 were Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022. Both were born in the 1980s.

The award was cancelled in 2020, when Robert Lewandowski was widely regarded the best player that year. He was also born in the '80s.

Neymar, born in 1992, came third on two occasions.

The Ballon d'Or was created by France Football magazine and has been awarded since 1956. It is voted for by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings.

Each journalist, one per country, selects 10 players in ranked order, with points attributed to each position. The winner is the player who receives the most points.

The dominance of Messi and Ronaldo in the age of social media has heightened the profile of the award.

Players talk of their dream to win it in a manner they may have spoken about the Champions League and World Cup in the past.

The potential to win it is used during transfer negotiations, with clauses added to contracts stipulating a buying club will pay extra costs if a player goes on to be crowned the best player in the world.

While Vinicius appears to be in pole position this year, Mbappe vs. Haaland has the potential to develop into a new rivalry for the award — particularly given they are strikers for Madrid and Manchester City, respectively, the two best teams in Europe in recent years.

"That whole idea of rivalries and sort of head-to-head, one-v-ones is just such a big part of football now," soccer author Matt Oldfield told The Associated Press. "People want to be able to simplify it to one-v-one, and I think the Mbappe-Haaland debate will be the leading one."

Oldfield writes children's books about football and on visits to schools he gauges the popularity of players among young fans.

His latest series is called "The Football GOAT (greatest of all time)."

The first book in the series centered around Messi and Ronaldo. The next is about Mbappe and Haaland: "We're kind of moving beyond Messi and Ronaldo now," he said.