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Shams Charania Reveals When LeBron James, Bronny Could Make Lakers Debut Together
The 2024-25 NBA season is a few weeks away and with it comes the guarantee of history. LeBron James and Bronny James, at some point, will step onto the floor together for the Los Angeles Lakers and officially become the first father-son duo to play together in NBA history (they did so in the preseason already but those minutes don't count in the record books).
When, exactly, that will happen is not certain. On Thursday, Shams Charania shed some light on that angle in his debut television appearance for ESPN. The insider revealed that the Lakers could put LeBron and Bronny on the floor as soon as the very first night of the regular season.
"We're going to be seeing history very, very soon," Charania said to Get Up host Mike Greenberg. "The expectation around the Lakers is that their debut together, the first father-son duo in NBA history to play at the same time in a game, will be as soon as opening night. October 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home at Crypto.com Arena from everything I'm told. That is the plan, that is the hope."
.@ShamsCharania says LeBron James and Bronny James debut together will be "as soon as opening night" for the Lakers 🤩
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 10, 2024
"We're going to be seeing history very, very soon." pic.twitter.com/bZWrsh8V0Z
It may come across as obvious that the Lakers would do this, but how often Bronny will actually play this season is not at all certain. He's a late second-round pick whose summer league and preseason performances show he's far from a finished product as a player. Los Angeles is trying to compete in LeBron's final years and can't really afford to let Bronny develop in games the team is trying to win. That includes the season-opening clash against the Wolves, who made a deep playoff run last season.
However it seems the Lakers will be getting Bronny on that floor as soon as possible.
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Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.