LeBron and Bronny James made NBA history on Tuesday night when they both suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the first father-son duo to share the hardwood in a regular season game.
On a possession where the Jameses constituted 40 percent of the Lakers' lineup, the elder James snagged a bounce pass from Austin Reaves and threw down a dunk with authority. It was an objectively cool moment no matter how many caveats want to litter around the rim to devalue it.
The fact that LeBron James is simultaneously a) athletic enough to pull this dunk off while being b) old enough to be the *father of one of the other 9 players on the court* is incomprehensible. pic.twitter.com/sOhs0eWXEp
— nick wright (@getnickwright) October 23, 2024
Ever since the idea of LeBron playing with his first son was floated publicly, pundits have pointed out the obvious. Bronny owes his place on an NBA roster in large part to his surname. If one wanted to be entirely cynical it might be fair to say he owes it largely due to his dad making it known that such a situation would make him happy and when he says jump the Lakers tend to say how high.
That is happening again today in the wake of the event. Here's a sampling of the takes from some of the major players in the space.
"It was a moment, I get it. It will have zero impact on the Lakers... It felt like a soft launch for a Kardashian show."
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) October 23, 2024
— @ColinCowherd on LeBron/Bronny taking floor together last night pic.twitter.com/1m4ACLPwmC
"I don't want to feel like every Feel Good is a big PR move by Nike to sell more Nike and that's how a lot of this has felt so far...It just feels so over-the-top manufactured." – @billygil on how it felt to watch LeBron and Bronny take the court together last night.
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) October 23, 2024
"It IS… pic.twitter.com/zgpHhlORM8
"Let's calm down... This might be fun for LeBron. Nobody in America cares that Bronny James played 3 minutes and grabbed 1 rebound... and this is supposed to be a moment that America is gonna resonate with?"
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 23, 2024
- Mad Dog Russo 😳pic.twitter.com/nWj9uTcA5S
It's always interesting to see how much time people on television or on podcasts devote to things they explicitly say they don't care about or that others do not care about. And yet these topics always seem to end up on the rundown and become the centerpiece for sharable clips. It must be difficult to conjure up so many words through disinterest.
There are some good points in the above commentary. Yet they seem to get lost in tangling with a strawman. Because no one in their right mind thinks Bronny James will be an important part of the Lakers' on-court product. Very few think he earned his way there the old-fashioned way. Only the completely oblivious think all of this is organic. What a lot of people do believe, though, is that it's still an incredible accomplishment for perhaps the most powerful athlete in professional sports and that it adds to the larger picture of his priorities as a parent.
What James has over Michael Jordan in the most persistent debate of all time is longevity and social reach. Playing with his son, even if someone wants to call it a stunt, showcases both of those things. It's another milestone for LeBron like some many others he reached, it's just that this one is more personal and connects with non-basketball fans a bit more.
To be fair, if there's a time to dump on Take Your Son to Work Day, it's right now. But this also highlights what could ultimately be a savvy move by LeBron. Expectations for Bronny are so incredibly low that if he continues to not embarrass himself out there and develops into a reliable role player in a few years it'll be seen as a great success. And playing in the NBA is the best training to play in the NBA so it's not out of the question.
Anyway, the point: if there's a cap on how excited the average person can get seeing LeBron share a court with his son, then there's definitely a cap on how upset someone can be that we've come to such a place. Maybe we can all agree on this: it was somewhat of a deal but certainly not a major deal.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Media Still Searching for the Right LeBron and Bronny James Take.
