Despite playing 21 seasons of professional basketball, LeBron James will have many firsts this upcoming year, playing alongside his son, Bronny James.
You’d think that after 21 years of professional basketball, LeBron James had seen and done it all. Yet, this upcoming season, he will experience something no NBA player ever has: being teammates with their child.
When Bronny James was drafted by the Lakers, we saw the media hoopla that followed. From cries of nepotism to the NBA media’s general weirdness regarding Bronny, the hype was off the charts.
That attention traveled to Las Vegas for the Summer League. You had an overanalysis of every movement by the Lakers rookie, including Jaylen Brown, who wanted to make it clear he wasn’t talking wild about Bronny when he sat courtside for one of the games.
This frenzy is just beginning, as the biggest moments are yet to come. Including, the first time LeBron and Bronny are on the court together, representing the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his latest podcast episode of “The Shop” LeBron shared what he thinks it will be like to experience that moment when it inevitably comes.
“I’m excited as – I am so excited. I am so excited for training camp. Having your son work with you, it’s like the greatest thing. I can’t wait for this moment. I really can not wait to hit the floor for him. It’s going to be pretty surreal for me. That might be the first time I sit back and, like, out of my whole career, finally get an opportunity to sit back and be like, ‘Oh s—, this is really cool.’
“I haven’t been able to do it for myself and maybe because I’ve been trying to climb this mountain. I’ve been so in this moment my whole career that I pray and hope that me being with my son will finally give me an opportunity to pull back and look at it from a different lens and appreciate it.”
It certainly will be special when that moment comes in an official NBA game. While we have all hypothesized how cool it will be, none of us fully knows.
When watching the video version of the podcast, you can see the genuine excitement that LeBron exudes when discussing this scenario. It’s going to be historic whenever they play together, no question.
Depending on how much Bronny plays, this father-son duo could produce many interesting stories.
Can you imagine if there’s a Bronny lob to LeBron in Los Angeles? The arena is going to go berserk. Will there be a moment where LeDad comes out and scolds Bronny for a missed rotation or for being hesitant on a 3-point attempt?
Does Bronny approach his father and call out some lazy defense on a random January game?
We’ll have to wait until the fall to see how it all unfolds, but one thing LeBron has made clear, besides his excitement about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, is that Bronny can’t call him Dad while they are both at work.