LeBron, Bronny James made NBA history as first active father-son duo

LeBron James and his son, Bronny James, made NBA history Tuesday when they became the first active father-son duo.

The Lakers opened their season with a 110-103 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Crypto.com Arena in front of a capacity crowd of 18,997. Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and his father Ken Griffey Sr., who were MLB’s first father-and-son teammates. Making their own history, LeBron and Bronny entered the game together when there was four minutes left in the second quarter. 

"It's family," LeBron James told TNT. "It's always my family over everything and for me, I lost a lot of time because of this league, and committing to this league, being on the road at times, missing a lot of his things, Bryce's things, Zhuri's things so to be able to have this moment where I'm working still and I can work alongside my son is one of the greatest gifts I've ever gotten from the man above and I'm gonna take full advantage of it."

Bronny missed a tip-in of a missed 3-point shot 36 seconds after entering the game. He also missed a 3-point shot 1:38 before halftime and left the game after playing 2:41. The Lakers were outscored by five when Bronny was on the court and he didn’t play in the second half. The Lakers who were outscored by six in the 34:39 he was in the game.  

Anthony Davis made 36 points and 15 rebounds as the team won their season opener for the first time since 2016. LeBron was among four other Lakers to finish in double figures. 

The game marked JJ Redick’s debut as the new Lakers coach. 40-year-old Redick was hired in June to replace Davin Ham, who was fired. His only coaching experience is with his son’s youth team. 

"The newness part is exciting," Redick said on Monday. "The familiar part is also exciting, because I really missed it over the last three years."

He played 15 seasons in the NBA and retired in 2021. Redick was an NBA analyst for ESPN and as a podcaster over the last three seasons.

In their opening game, the Lakers also celebrated the life and legacy of Jerry West, the Hall of Fame player who died at 86-years-old. For the remainder of the season, the players will wear a commemorative No. 44 band on their left shoulder.