Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and his son Bronny made history on Tuesday by officially becoming the first father-son duo to share the floor in the NBA.
The moment will be remembered for a long time, but the elder James explained after the game that he and his son “weren’t trying to make it about us.”
“We had a job to do when we checked in,” the elder James said. “We wasn’t trying to make it a circus. We weren’t trying to make it about us. We wanted to make it about the team, for us to go out there and continue to play the game, the brand of basketball that the coaching staff and our teammates wanted us to play. We kept that. We kept the main thing while we was on the floor. And that was good for all of us.”
In the final minutes of the second quarter on Tuesday, the Lakers sent the James duo into the game with L.A. protecting a 16-point lead. While that was a legendary moment for the James family and the team, they did indeed have a job to do, and the situation didn’t prove to be too much of a distraction with L.A. maintaining a healthy lead going into halftime.
The younger James didn’t score in his NBA debut, but he did register a rebound on a second-chance opportunity. He received three minutes of playing time.
Meanwhile, the elder James finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists in his season debut. He saw 35 minutes of action to get his 22nd NBA season started.
It was a solid night all around for the Lakers, who were able to earn a 110-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Big man Anthony Davis was the MVP of the evening, as he finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
It remains to be seen if the James duo will share the floor again in the coming games. While the younger James is expected to spend a lot of his rookie season in the G League to develop his game, the G League’s regular season doesn’t start until next month.
That could result in the 20-year-old getting some minutes here and there with the Lakers as they continue to navigate the early portion of their schedule.
L.A. will return to action on Friday against the Phoenix Suns before hosting the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. Those games will conclude an early-season home stand for the Lakers before they hit the road for five straight games away from Crypto.com Arena.
