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 for the first time — whether it’s opening night against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday or later this season — NBA history will are made.

For LeBron, who is entering his 22nd season while his son is entering his first season, the time and place of that first team together are insignificant.

“Every time it happens, it’s going to happen,” he said after the Lakers shooting Tuesday morning. “Whether it’s tonight or later, whenever it happens, it’s going to happen. But it’s been a treat, and just in the preseason, the training, just every day… to get him up to speed on what this professional life means.” is about how you can prepare yourself every day as a professional.”

The history that 39-year-old LeBron pondered for hours before the 2024-2025 season tipped off was all that 20-year-old Bronny experienced to get to this point. About a year before the Lakers selected Bronny with the No. 55 pick in the second round, he suffered cardiac arrest during summer practice in July 2023 while preparing for his freshman season at USC.

“(It wasn’t) that long ago that the scare happened,” LeBron said. “And if he can step onto an NBA floor, if that’s tonight or whenever, it will be another one of those moments of realizing the adversity he’s been through.

“I’ve had a few family members who have had heart surgeries. Some of them are older, some are younger. And to know how long it takes to get back to yourself, to see him play in a College Division I game the same year he had heart surgery was kind of a “wow” moment. And I knew at that moment that there really wasn’t going to be anything that was going to stop him from getting to this – for everything he was going to want to do and he wanted to keep playing basketball.”

Continuing with the sport was the younger James’ top priority.

“One of the first things he asked the doctors after his heart surgery was like, ‘When can I play again?’” LeBron recalled. “Not like, ‘How long will it take for my heart to heal?’ Or not: ‘How long have I been operated on?’ None of these. He asked, ‘When can I play again?'”

LeBron and Bronny played together once during the preseason, on October 6 early in the second quarter against the Phoenix Suns. Bronny struggled for most of the exhibition, but finished on a high note, scoring 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting with 4 rebounds and 3 steals against the Golden State Warriors.

Whether the father-son duo are on the field together on Tuesday or not, there will be a prominent father-son pair in the crowd to watch the game. Ken Griffey Jr. said on “The Road to Cooperstown” podcast on SiriusXM 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 with the Seattle Mariners in 1990.

“I have been a huge fan of Ken Griffey Jr. and then became a friend of Ken Griffey Jr. throughout my professional career,” said LeBron. “Just understanding the history of the sport to see what they could do. So to be here today and know that those guys are going to be here tonight with Bronny and I being on the same team is quite an achievement.” cool moment in sports history.”

The Griffeys famously hit back-to-back home runs for the Mariners on September 14, 1990. LeBron was asked what basketball’s version of that moment was for him and Bronny to accomplish.

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