When the NBA’s new season begins Tuesday, one of its most anticipated moments will involve a player not even guaranteed to get on the court.
Welcome to the NBA, Bronny James.
With the age-defying act of LeBron James now reaching a 22nd season, tying the league record for longest career with Vince Carter, James has played for so long that in June the Lakers drafted his oldest son, Bronny, 20. When the Lakers face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, the possibility that father and son could play together — what would be a first in NBA regular-season history — has created an opportunity for a spectacle as notable as anything else to happen in the game.
Though Lakers coach J.J. Redick told reporters Monday that a plan to play LeBron and Bronny together had not been finalized and Bronny James said he did not know whether he would actually play against Minnesota, there is clearly an expectation of history surrounding the season opener. Among those in attendance will be Ken Griffey Jr. and his father, who in 1990 became the first father-son duo to play together in Major League Baseball.
“We made history; now we get to watch history,” Griffey Jr. said on SiriusXM. “So, that’s what’s going to be cool about it.”
“Only two families to do it,” Bronny James told reporters Monday when he was asked about the Griffeys. “It’s gonna be a crazy experience.”
Never before has a player selected 55th overall in the league’s draft played under such scrutiny to begin his first season. Though he and his father drew headlines as the first father-son duo to appear in any NBA game during the preseason, Bronny James’ exhibitions eventually drew more attention for how he played and his offensive struggles.
Bronny, who signed a four-year contract worth reportedly $7.9 million, shot 29.7% from the field in six preseason games. As a starter in Friday’s preseason finale, he made his first 3-pointer and finished the preseason 1-for-12 from deep. Bronny acknowledged having “bad games” in preseason but said he was proud that he had kept playing.
“I feel like my confidence, I feel like that’s the biggest thing for me right now,” he told reporters after the preseason finale in San Francisco.
During his one season playing collegiately for Southern California — following his recovery from cardiac arrest during a practice in the summer of 2023 — Bronny was not regarded by scouts as a dynamic offensive threat. Instead, they saw his value entering the league as predicated on how effectively he could make life difficult for opposing offensive players, which is different from that of his father, who upon his NBA debut in 2003 was counted on to become a top scorer.
LeBron has done that, and far more, in a career remarkable for its length and accolades. What will his son’s career entail? The first signs could be revealed Tuesday.
