Bronny James checked into the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first game of the 2024-24 NBA season alongside his father LeBron. James. The pair made history, becoming the first father-son duo in league history.
The younger James, 20, entered to a raucous applause from Lakers faithful at the Crypto.com Arena. At the time, Los Angeles led the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves by 16 points.
Bronny was uninvolved in his first offensive possession, remaining mostly stagnant in the corner Timberwolves veteran forward Julius Randle targeted Bronny immediately on his first defensive possession, scoring against the 20-year-old via a routine post-up.
Bronny James would see the ball on his next offensive possession, receiving a pass from LeBron James on a dribble-hand-off.
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Bronny came around the screen as his defender Joe Ingles — arguably the weakest perimeter stopper on the Timberwolves roster — flew to meet him. After taking one dribble, he dished the ball back to LeBron, who would miss a step-back jump with the shot clock running down.
The Lakers selected James with the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, inking him to a partially guaranteed four-year, $7.9 million contract.
He would play 2:41 minutes in the second quarter and did not appear in the second half. The younger James missed both of his shots and grabbed an offensive rebound — the Lakers would finish -5 with Bronny on the floor.
Bronny James would miss both of his shot attempts in his NBA debut (
Getty Images)
Before entering, the elder James offered his son some valuable advice. “Y’all ready? Let’s see the intensity, right? Just play carefree though. Don’t worry about mistakes just go out and play hard,” LeBron said via a TNT microphone.
Bronny’s limited action wouldn’t end up making too much of a difference — the Lakers would cruise past the Timberwolves 110-103 thanks to 36 points from forward/center Anthony Davis.
First-year head coach J.J. Redick could have opted to slow the younger James into the rotation after a slow preseason. The 20-year-old averaged 4.2 points on 29.7% shooting in 16.2 minutes across six games.
Instead, Redick opted to have the moment come as quickly as possible. Ian Eagle and the TNT broadcast crew speculated this was the eliminate Bronny’s debut becoming a distraction.
Additionally, the first-year head coach was effusive of the rookie’s play.: “He’s really coachable and has a very good head on his shoulders,” Redick said.
“I’m sure there’s some amazing things that come with being him. There [are] probably some hard things that come with being him, too. And I think he’s handled it with a lot of class and grace.”
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