LeBron James, no stranger to it, is ready to make history again.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer spoke Tuesday at a shoot-around about sharing the court with his oldest son, possibly as soon as tonight in the Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Just to run out the tunnel knowing that he’ll be in uniform, run out the tunnel with him, see him warm up, and be out there with the rest of my teammates,” James said. “This is my 22nd time running out on opening night so I don’t know how many times I’ll have an opportunity, how many times I’ve got left to run out. I won’t take it for granted.”
No father and son have ever played together in the NBA. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., the first father-son duo in MLB, are expected to be in attendance Tuesday night. Gordie Howe and his sons played together in the NHL, and Tim Raines and his son played together with the Orioles.
For Bronny James, the Lakers’ second-round draft pick, the game will also be his pro debut — an accomplishment in itself considering his on-court cardiac arrest in 2023.
“When he’s able to grace an NBA floor, if that’s tonight or whenever the case may be, it’ll be another one of those moments just to know the adversity that he went through,” LeBron James said. “I’ve had a couple of family members that have had heart surgeries. Some of them older, some of them younger. And to know how long it kind of takes to get back to yourself, to see him be able to play in a college Division I game the same year that he had heart surgery was, like, a ‘wow’ moment. And I knew that at that moment that there really was going to be nothing to stop him from getting to this — to anything that he wants to do.”
James said he’s tried to give his son his own space as a rookie, but that the time they’ve gotten together to start this season has been incredibly special.
“He’s his own man and just to see him continue to grow has been a treat to be able to see,” James said of his son. “I missed so many days while I was playing and they were in grade school and middle school and high school. I missed a lot of days. So to be able to kind of recoup some of those days now with us being together and working together, I mean, it’s pretty cool.”
