LeBron James and his son Bronny officially made NBA history being the first father-son duo to play on the same team. They made their first public appearance as teammates during Lakers media day on Monday.
“Just pure joy, man,” LeBron said, according to Yahoo Sports. “I don’t have any words. I can speak about me. You guys ask me questions about me. When it comes to him, I’m just at a loss for words.”
“Super proud of him to get to this point,” he added. “He’s a man. He’s ready to go. Whatever questions you got for him, go ahead and let him have it.”
“Pure joy.”
LeBron James on Bronny’s first media day with the #LakeShow. pic.twitter.com/dSzuFv6xLF
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) September 30, 2024
LeBron wore his traditional No. 23 jersey, while Bronny rocked No. 9. LeBron said he wants to keep their relationship as teammates on the court and doesn’t want his son calling him dad. They haven’t yet decided how Bronny will refer to him during games.
“I haven’t gotten there yet,” Bronny said. “It’s probably gonna be, like, Bron. Bron would be the easiest.”
LeBron and Bronny are the first father-son duo to play on the same team in the NBA. The exciting news was announced last June.
“In the history of the NBA, there’s never been a father and a son that have shared an NBA basketball court and that feels like something that could be magical,” Rob Pelinka, vice president of basketball operations and general manager for the Lakers, said at the time of the announcement, per ESPN.
The Lakers selected Bronny as the 55th pick in the second round of the NBA draft.
“The worst interview of the day.”
Bron got jokes for Bronny 😂 pic.twitter.com/RLdeVVUOwy
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 30, 2024
Last week, reporters asked head coach JJ Redick about how he plans on navigating this novelty.
“I don’t look at it as a challenge that’s unique from any other challenge of coaching a player or coaching a relationship,” he told AP News.
“We don’t have anything planned, per se, in terms of a commitment to do it this way,” he added. “We obviously have talked about it as a staff, and we’ve gotten into some specifics of what that might look like, but we haven’t committed to anything. And obviously there’s a discussion to be had once we’re all together, with Bronny and LeBron, too. They should be a part of that discussion as well.”
Pelinka, who had been following Bronny since his days of playing for USC, said he met all the qualities of being a Laker.
“Bronny is, first and foremost, a person of high character,” he said. “And second, he is a young man that works incredibly hard. Those are the qualities we look for in drafting players and adding to our developmental corps at the Lakers.”
Making their presentation debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 4, the Lakers will go head-to-head with the Timberwolves on Oct. 22.