LeBron James and Bronny James are teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers this season, marking the first time a father-son duo has ever played together in the NBA. Things get weird before the games actually start counting.

LeBron Sr. was held out of the Lakers’ penultimate preseason game on Thursday night, but LeBron Jr. had a rotation spot off the bench. Bronny played 17 minutes and finished with four points and two rebounds on 2-of-4 shooting. He was a plus-17 in the game! Bronny still seems far from a rotation-caliber player, but these preseason reps are meaningful for his development.

In the fourth quarter of a close game with the Phoenix Suns, James Jr. chased. Suns’ forward Jalen Bridges across the field during a fastbreak attempt. Bronny seemed to undercut him slightly in the air while he wasn’t playing the ball. Bridges fell hard to the ground and the referees reviewed the play. Ultimately, Bronny was given a flagrant foul.

After the referees made the blatant announcement, LeBron James Sr. walked out. to the referees and made sure he got a full explanation. Watch the video here, via NBA Reddit.

LeBron clearly has so much love for his son and was being a protective parent at this time. The referees made the decision correctly, so James Sr. doesn’t really have anything to argue about. He probably stopped Bronny after the game and discussed how to defend himself in transition situations like this.

Any interaction between LeBron and Bronny will get a lot of attention this year. New head coach JJ Redick has already said he will play the two to make NBA history early in the season. The assumption is that sooner or later Bronny will drop in the G League and won’t be in the Lakers’ rotation this season.

This moment is just a sign that this season with LeBron and Bronny will be scrutinized to a wild degree. The Internet agrees:

The real headline for the Lakers in this game was the electric play of their other rookie, first-round pick Dalton Knecht. The former Tennessee wing finished with 35 points on 8-of-13 shooting from three-point range. He hit the shot to force overtime, at one point scoring twenty straight points.

This Lakers season is going to be as fascinating as ever.