LeBron James and Bronny James. Image via: Getty Images
The Lakers drafted Bronny 55th overall on June 27, 2024, and on opening night that season, coach J.J. The Lakers won 110-103. LeBron scored 16 points, and Bronny played 2 minutes and 41 seconds with one rebound. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., who did it in baseball in 1990, watched from courtside. A second came in the spring, when both played in Game 1 of the Lakers’ series against the Houston Rockets, the first father-son pair in a playoff game. 28, 2025, he criticized the people who cover and discuss the league day-to-day while answering a question about who should be its face. He is entering his third NBA season, still trying to win a rotation spot with the team that drafted him in 2024.
Because of how much the Jameses had built there, leaving Los Angeles looked like a stretch. Because of his father, smith said on First Take that Bronny belonged in the G League and argued he was in the NBA. Both men later confirmed it was about Smith’s coverage of Bronny.
On his podcast and on First Take, he said LeBron was misrepresenting his remarks, insisted he had been calling out LeBron and not targeting Bronny, and maintained that the young guard simply was not ready at that point. Redick motioned both men off the bench with four minutes left in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They became the first father and son to share an NBA floor in a regular-season game. Los Angeles upset Houston while Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were hurt, and Bronny logged real minutes next to his father. LeBron’s protective side has a public record, and it goes back to Bronny’s rookie year. On Feb. Days later, in March, he walked toward ESPN’s Stephen A. The roots went back to late January. He also appealed to LeBron, as a father, to step in. Smith did not back off. Each side took shots on separate platforms within a day of the other. Media day itself was the first without LeBron’s presence, and Bronny shrugged off the difference. The Lakers he returns to are younger than the ones LeBron left. Doncic, the NBA’s scoring champion, and Reaves anchor the group, Walker Kessler arrives at center, and nine new players are fighting for roles.
Smith before the fourth quarter of a Lakers win over the New York Knicks for an animated exchange.
Speaking on his Mind The Game podcast recently, the NBA ‘s all-time leading scorer described how Bronny James’ friendship with Tyrese Maxey introduced him to the 76ers guard, years before LeBron signed a two-year deal with Philadelphia in July. LeBron James has explained how the Philadelphia 76ers first landed on his radar, and the story starts with his son. It was the first time he had spoken publicly about the move since putting pen to paper, and the answer was not the one most people expected.
