LeBron and Bronny James are the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game together

The moment that had been highly anticipated since the Lakers drafted Bronny 55th overall on June 27 became a reality with 4:00 minutes left in the second quarter against Minnesota when Lakers coach JJ Redick looked at his bench and both father and son waved, they had been sitting next to each other on the sidelines to check in. The fans in Crypto.com Arena began to stand for an ovation before the two had even halfway jogged to the scorer's table.

When the rookie stepped onto the court in the first official minute of his NBA career, his presence in the lineup alongside his father had caused a stir.

Among those cheering from fieldside seats were Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., who in 1990 became the first father-son duo to play together in MLB history. The Griffeys and Jameses greeted each other on the court before tipoff before posing for a photo. There are few other parallels in American professional sports: The Raines played together in the MLB, and the Howes family of hockey players also played together.

During the preseason, both LeBron and Bronny discussed finding the right balance between treating each other as teammates and relatives, and for much of Tuesday night, their interactions looked no different than those of the other teammate duos. They high-fived after singing the national anthem before kickoff, and after James played the first five minutes of the game, he took a seat at the other end of the Lakers' bench, four seats away from his son.

Although the two had already played together in the preseason, the exhibition statistics are not included in the NBA balance sheet, so the official “first” lineup of father and son took place on Tuesday. The NBA's all-time leading scorer and also expected to become its all-time leading scorer in minutes played this season, the elder James was already one of the most prolific and prolific athletes in league history. But what happened on Tuesday, when he had a falling out with his son, was more personal.

Bronny was born just weeks before his father's second NBA season began in 2004.

“He's his own man and it's been a pleasure watching him continue to grow,” James said at the team's shootaround just hours before Tuesday's announcement, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I missed so many days while I was playing and they were in elementary school, middle school and high school. I missed many days. So it’s pretty cool that we’re now able to make up for some of those days of being together and working together.”

James reminded reporters of the uncertainty over whether Bronny would have a chance to play in the NBA after he suffered cardiac arrest during a practice at the University of Southern California in the summer of 2023. Bronny recovered in time and was able to return to play in December, averaging 4.8 points in his only season of college ball.

“And knowing how long it takes to get back to yourself and seeing him be able to play in a Division I college game the same year he had heart surgery was like a 'wow' moment,” James told Reporter, according to the LA Times. “And I knew in that moment that there was really nothing that was going to stop him from achieving this – everything he wanted to do.”