NBA history was made on October 22, as NBA superstar LeBron James took the court of Crypto.com Arena with his son LeBron “Bronny” James Jr., making them the first father-son duo in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers played an intense season opener against Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves, in a game where the Lakers ran away with a 110-103 win.
In the season opener, LeBron dropped 16 points, 4 assist and 5 rebounds; however, his son displayed significantly less action and only saw the court for about three minutes. During his total time on the hardwood, he received 0 points, 0 assists, only a single rebound and shot 0-3.
To the amazement of the NBA community, LeBron James has recently turned 39 years old and is still going strong in the league, averaging 20+ points per game. He is a 20x-AllStar, 4x-MVP and 4x-NBA champion. His life-long NBA career goal to play alongside his son has finally been granted, with Bronny James being drafted out of USC late in the second round with the 55th pick in this year’s draft.
Some reports speculate that LeBron Jr. will spend most of his time in the G-League (minor leagues) with the Lakers affiliate team, the South Bay Lakers.
There is no doubt that his father had massively contributed to his son being drafted, who has also overcome several major health issues in past years, recently recovering from a major cardiac arrest scare while attending USC in July of last year.
Despite this, he is now making his difficult transition from competitive collegiate ball to even more difficult professional-ball and has not made an outstanding first impression. Many avid watchers and sports fanatics believe that the “next generation” of the LeBron legacy should have concluded since the preseason and that Bronny James is significantly unprepared for what is in store for him in the NBA.
Other than the regular season opener, his preseason stats haven’t been one to talk about as he averaged 0.7 points per game on 9.1% shooting and, of all the 494 players that he competed with during that preseason, James Jr. was last in plus minus. The Lakers are now solidifying plans to send him down to the G-League as a “development stint.” The G-League is looked upon as a lesser (minor) league, but it is still littered with the same players that competed with Bronny James on the court in college, as well as tougher competition to return to the pro-level.
