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Fans who are anxious to see LeBron and Bronny James share the court in an NBA game may not have to wait very long.
Appearing on The Lowe Post podcast (starts at 1:03:51), Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick said the father-son duo will play together “sooner rather than later.”
Redick didn’t offer specific insight into what the Lakers’ plan is going to be for Bronny as a rookie, but he did suggest the 19-year-old would spend time in the G League at times during the upcoming season to fine-tune his game.
“I think Bronny is a young guy,” Redick said (starts at 1:03:00 mark). “I am very high on him as a basketball player and I said this at his press conference I said he is kinda like our first player that we get to mold and help develop. So we’re going to look at the G-League as a tool in our player development system.”
Redick reiterated those remarks during a press conference with Rob Pelinka on Wednesday afternoon:
There is a semantic argument one could make from Redick’s comments about the idea LeBron and Bronny being on the court together sooner rather than later. Both of them figure to play at points in the preseason. The Lakers open their preseason schedule on Oct. 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, so it could technically happen one week from Friday.
The real intrigue stems from when they will play in a regular-season game together. It could depend on how Bronny looks in training camp and preseason. He averaged 8.8 points on 35.0 percent shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in four Summer League appearances.
Bronny’s primary value to the Lakers will likely come on defense, but it’s typically hard for a rookie to be a net positive on that end of the court. He earned
high marks for his ability as a defender before the draft.
The Lakers used the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA draft to select Bronny James. Bronny and LeBron will become the first father-son duo to play in the same NBA game if they take the court together at any point.
There will be opportunities right out of the gate for Redick to use Bronny and LeBron together in front of the home crowd. The Lakers play their first three games of the regular season at Crypto.com Arena, including the opener on Oct. 22 against the Timberwolves.
