Anthony Davis and other Laker teammates are on board with Bronny James playing NBA basketball alongside LeBron. They love what they’re seeing.
The NBA world is about to witness history next week, from all indications. Bronny James and LeBron James appear likely to play in the same NBA regular-season game when the Los Angeles Lakers begin their 2024-2025 NBA season. Assuming LeBron and Bronny do take the court together, they will become the first father-son tandem to play in an NBA regular-season game as teammates.
You might reasonably wonder if the other players on the Lakers’ roster are fine with this, given the widespread awareness that Bronny James is not viewed as an NBA-ready player by most scouts and talent evaluators. The answer is clear: The Lakers are happy to be around Bronny and see him put in the work to become an NBA athlete.
Laker big man Anthony Davis is loving the energy Bronny brings to the locker room and is excited to witness this unique chapter in NBA history, as he told The Associated Press.
“It’s awesome,” Davis said. “It’s historic. It’s powerful. Bronny’s locker is across from mine, so every time I walk in and see it, it’s still surreal for me that he’s on the same team as his dad. I can’t wait until they step on the floor and officially make history, but it’s been super-dope to watch so far.”
Davis later added:
“He’s tough,” Davis said. “Obviously he’s defensive-minded. Some great blocks. The physicality he gets over on screens. He’s good with his hands as far as deflections and steals. But he’s also still learning. He’s still trying to figure everything out. We have to realize that. He’s still a rookie. It’s a different style of basketball, but I like what I’m seeing.”
The Lakers begin their new NBA regular season on Oct. 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Los Angeles.
It seems likely that LeBron James and Bronny James will share the floor for the Lakers when the NBA regular season begins, making sports history in LA.
The Los Angeles Lakers know that Bronny James has a lot of work to do in order to become a serviceable NBA player. The No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA draft likely would not have been picked in the draft had his father not been LeBron James. That’s not a criticism, merely a reality. While it seems likely that Bronny will play in the G League over the course of the coming professional basketball season, he has been practicing with the Lakers in recent weeks, playing preseason games, and — from all appearances — preparing to make his NBA regular-season debut next week when the new NBA campaign begins. This means that the Jameses — LeBron and Bronny — will become the first father-son duo to play as teammates in the same NBA regular-season game.
“It’s a special feeling, a different feeling, to work with him (Bronny). When you go to work every day, you want to try to help each other. If it’s a bad day for him, you pick him up. … There’s things we can do that doesn’t even need words. We can just look at each other and know.”
The Lakers open the 2024-2025 NBA regular season at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James was asked what it was like to play alongside his dad, four-time NBA Finals MVP LeBron James.
The former USC guard, who was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, shared a court with his father during a preseason appearance on Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns.
After the match, during a postgame press conference, Bronny spoke about how it felt. He said that it was pretty challenging for him to separate LeBron the parent from LeBron the player. The quote itself was fairly outstanding.
It was a moment literally decades in the making as Bronny actually turned 20 years old the same night as the appearance.
Bronny, who was selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, will likely soon become the first player in league history to ever play alongside his father in an NBA regular season game as well.
Following the preseason appearance against the Suns, however, LeBron had a perfect reaction to the moment:
LeBron James made history once again by becoming the first player in NBA history to play alongside his son. The Phoenix Suns may have taken the 118-114 preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers, but everyone was celebrating this historic moment. …
LeBron James made history once again by becoming the first player in NBA history to play alongside his son. The Phoenix Suns may have taken the 118-114 preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers, but everyone was celebrating this historic moment.
Here’s how social media reacted to LeBron sharing the court with his son Bronny:
On Sunday, LeBron James and Bronny James took the court together as a father and son duo for the first time. The Los Angeles Lakers played host to the Phoenix Suns as, for the first time ever, a father-son duo were on the court together to play.
Yes, the occasion is still a momentous one, even in a preseason game. Fans had been wondering when Bronny and LeBron would play their first preseason game together, as the opportunity didn’t present itself on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The pair have taken the hype and lead up in stride, as Bronny has even gotten verbal jabs in on his father as the preseason rolls along.
Bronny James isn’t the only one in his relationship with some famous bloodlines.
The son of LeBron James is dating Parker Whitfield — as of posting this, the pair made their relationship Instagram official recently — who is the daughter of actor Dondré T. Whitfield and actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield.
They went to high school together, but rumors about them dating started when they sat together to watch men’s basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics as his dad played and ended up with a gold medal.
There you have it! Here’s a look at the post that made it officially official that the pair was a couple:
💕@BronnyJamesJr and Parker Whitfield made it official on National Boyfriend Day!💑
The team will play its first preseason game on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET against the Minnesota Timberwolves. And you’re wondering: will we see them on the court together?
Good question. We don’t know what the plan is for the Lakers when it comes to resting their starters, and we do know Bronny isn’t injured or anything.
So … it’s possible! Tune in and check it out to see if the pair of them play on Friday.
LeBron James doesn’t think it’s fair to put expectations on the Lakers.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Prince J. Grimes.
What’s up hoops fans. It’s your boy Prince here for Layup Lines. And today feels like a good day to talk about the Los Angeles Lakers, fresh off one of the most interesting media days around the NBA this week.
The biggest topic of conversation was probably LeBron and Bronny James, who had some fun and funny moments together. It was incredibly cool to see a father-son duo do media day together for the first time. We knew the James takeover was coming, but it feels more real now than ever before as stories about their battles in practice continue to trickle out.
LeBron is even building some decent hype for his son, saying Bronny looks better than he did as a rookie. That’s a lie, but what else do you expect from a dad. Regardless of how Bronny looks, it’ll be an amazing moment when they take the floor together in a real game for the first time.
One other thing that caught my attention, though, were the expectations James refused to put on the team as a whole. In fact, he said he didn’t have any for the Lakers.
“I don’t have any expectations,” James said, via ESPN. “And that’s unfair to put any expectations on us right now. The only thing that we can count on each other is how we come to practice and come to work every day.”
I want to be fair to LeBron and the Lakers. Because if you asked me today to rank the best teams in the Western Conference, I’d get through at least four before even considering the Lakers. BetMGM has six teams with better odds to win the West.
But a statement like that rings hollow coming from James. Championship expectations have followed him his entire career. Those expectations only grew stronger as he cemented himself as one of the two best players of all-time. And once he joined the Lakers — the team with the second most titles in NBA history — those expectations were cemented.
It’s championship or bust. The day James’ team is alleviated of that pressure will be the day he retires.
Whether it’s fair for those expectations to continue following someone who turns 40 this season is a fair question. But the follow-up would be why else is James still playing.
Bronny is one reason. But I’d be surprised if LeBron wasn’t still fixated on winning. There’s a reason the Lakers dumped Darvin Ham after two winning seasons and a trip to the conference finals, and replaced him with James’ podcast partner, JJ Redick.
James expects to compete for championships. When he no longer feels like he can do that, he’ll stop playing. His attempt at calming expectations from the outside won’t work. We can see right through it.
Knicks pulled off KAT trade with help from FIBA, EuroLeague
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Knicks’ trade for Karl-Anthony Towns is finally done, The Athleticreported Tuesday, and it is absolutely fascinating for more reasons than one.
There’s obviously the basketball component, which involves two contenders in the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves making big changes to rosters that had successful playoff runs last season. But there’s also the mechanics of the trade, which wasn’t simple to pull off by any means. It took three teams, including the Charlotte Hornets, and a whole other league and continent to get done.
No, really. The Knicks had to include Duane Washington Jr. in the deal to make the money work, but Washington doesn’t play in the NBA. He’s signed to a team in Serbia. So the Knicks needed some cooperation.
“As far as the NBA is concerned, the Knicks still held Washington’s rights because he played for the team on a two-way deal last season and the league doesn’t acknowledge non-NBA contracts when considering a player’s free agency status. So he was still eligible to be part of a sign-and-trade deal.
The problem is he’s under contract and has already played in a couple of games for Partizan this year.
So, basically, for the trade to work, Washington had to get out of his deal with Partizan and become a Knick for a day to eventually become a Hornet for a day and then get waived.”
This is so funny and so wholesome at the same time
Playing as yourself as an athlete in a video game has to be a particularly awesome experience.
Even if your rating isn’t the greatest, you’re still in the game. Most people simply will never be able to say that.
Now, imagine what it feels like to be the parent of someone who is in a video game. That has to be beyond cool. Obviously, you’re proud of your child and what they’ve managed to accomplish. But you also get to revel in that accomplishment a bit, even if it’s in just a small way.
What makes this even better is that LeBron James is in the background saying this is the only way he can get Savannah to play the game with him. To her credit, she seems to have that jump shot down.
This is hilarious. At the same time, it’s so incredibly wholesome. It’s a small moment, sure. But it’s one I’m sure the James family appreciates.
