LeBron James doesn't rush to trial with Bronny – “It's going to happen”

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – When Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick puts LeBron and Bronny James on the court at the same time in a game – be it opening night against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday or later this season – for the first time the NBA history is being made.

For LeBron, who is entering his 22nd season while his son begins his first, the timing and location of that first shift together doesn't matter.

“Whenever it happens, it’s going to happen,” he said after the Lakers’ shootout Tuesday morning. “If it happens tonight or if it happens down the line, whenever it happens, it will happen. But it was a pleasure, and especially in the preparation for the season, the training, just every day… just brings him up to date with professional life. “It's all about how you prepare as a professional every day.”

The story 39-year-old LeBron reflected on hours before the end of the 2024-25 season was everything 20-year-old Bronny 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 when the horror happened,” LeBron said. “And when he's able to grace an NBA stadium, whether it's tonight or whenever, it'll be one of those moments again just knowing the adversity he's been through.”

“I had a few family members who had heart surgeries. Some of them are older, some of them are younger. And knowing how long it takes to get back to yourself and see that he's capable of playing in your Division I college game the same year he had heart surgery had was a “wow” moment. And in that moment I knew that there was really nothing that was going to stop him from achieving this – everything he wanted. And he wanted to keep playing basketball.

Continuing the sport was the younger James' top priority.

“One of the first things he asked was when the doctors asked him after his heart surgery, 'When can I play again?'” LeBron remembers. “Not like, 'How long will it take for my heart to heal?' Or not: “How long was I in surgery?” None of that. He asked, “When can I play again?”

LeBron and Bronny played together once during the preseason, on October 6, at the start of the second quarter against the Phoenix Suns. Bronny struggled for most of the tournament, but finished the game with a good performance, scoring 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting with 4 rebounds and 3 steals against the Golden State Warriors.

Regardless of whether the father-son duo takes the field together on Tuesday or not, a respected father-son pair will be in the audience to watch the game. Ken Griffey Jr. said on SiriusXM's “The Road to Cooperstown” podcast that he will attend the Lakers' season opener with his father, Ken Griffey Sr.

The Griffeys became the first father-son teammates in Major League Baseball history in 1990 with the Seattle Mariners.

“I was a big fan of Ken Griffey Jr. and then became friends with Ken Griffey Jr. over the course of my professional career,” LeBron said. “Just understanding the history of the sport and seeing what they’ve done. … So it's nice to be here today and know that while me and Bronny are on the same team, these guys will be there tonight. It's a cool moment in the history of the sport.”

On September 14, 1990, the Griffeys hit back-to-back home runs for the Mariners. LeBron was asked what the basketball version of that moment was for him and Bronny.

“Probably two lobs,” LeBron said. “I catch a lob and then Bronny catches a lob, which is probably the equivalent of that. Obviously the long ball is something that plays a big role in baseball, so probably two lobs.”