EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — When Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick first puts LeBron and Bronny James on the court in a game at the same time — whether it's opening night against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday or later this season — NBA history will be made.
For LeBron, who is embarking on his 22nd season while his son starts his first, the time and place of that first shift together is inconsequential.
«Whenever it happens, it will happen,» he said after Lakers shootaround Tuesday morning. «If it's tonight or if it's down the line, whenever it happens, it will happen. But it's been a treat, and just in preseason, the practices, just every day… just bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about and how to prepare every day as a professional.»
The history the 39-year-old LeBron spent time reflecting on hours before the 2024-25 season tipped off was everything Bronny, 20, went through to get to this point. About a year before the Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 pick in the second round, he suffered a cardiac arrest in July 2023 during a summer workout while preparing for his freshman season at USC.
"[It was] not too long ago that the scare happened," LeBron said. «And when he's able to grace an NBA floor, if that's tonight or whenever the case may be, it'll be another one of those moments just to know the adversity that he went through.
»I've had a couple of family members that have had heart surgeries. Some of them older, some of them younger. And to know how long it kind of takes to get back to yourself, to see him be able to play in a college Division I game the same year that he had heart surgery was, like, a 'wow' moment. And I knew that at that moment that there really was going to be
Sporting
Courts
ESPN
UPS
SUN
Colleges
El Segundo