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Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. will be at the Lakers opener, hoping to see some NBA history
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Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. will be at the Lakers opener, hoping to see some NBA history

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — If LeBron James Sr. and his son, Bronny, Making NBA history Playing in the same game for the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. be present to witness this.

The first father-son duo to play together in Major League Baseball plans to attend the Lakers’ season opener at their downtown arena, where the entire crowd hopes to see the James family accomplish the same rare sporting feat for the NBA.

“First father and son to play baseball, (and) now the first father and son to play basketball,” the younger Griffey said MLB Network Radio. “It’s a big deal for my dad and me to be there. We have made history. Now we can look at history, so that’s the nice thing about it.”

Bronny James is already excited to make his official NBA debut, but the presence of the Griffeys adds an extra layer of anticipation for the Lakers’ second-round pick.

“Yeah, it’s going to be crazy,” 20-year-old Bronny said after practice Monday at the Lakers’ training complex. “I mean, there’s only two families that can do it, so it’s going to be a crazy experience, especially (with) what they’ve done.”

Bronny made it clear he doesn’t know if he’ll actually play against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Lakers coach JJ Redick said “nothing has been finalized or anything yet” about the player rotation in Los Angeles.

Still, it seems unlikely the Lakers will wait to make it the moment of history they have planned since the franchise selected Bronny with the 55th overall pick this summer to play with LeBron, the 39-year-old leading scorer in NBA history. The father and son already played together in preseasonearlier this month they went to court together outside Palm Springs for the first time.

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A father and son play together about once a generation in North American professional sports. The Griffeys accomplished this feat in 1990 and 1991, appearing in 51 games for the Seattle Mariners – even homering in the same game on September 14, 1990.

Tim Raines and his son of the same name also played four games together for the Baltimore Orioles at the end of the 2001 season. Before that, Gordie Howe played with his sons Mark and Marty in the WHA and the NHL and for Team Canada in the 1970s.

Bronny grew up in his father’s locker rooms and arenas in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles, so he’s more than ready to leave the historic moment behind and get into the daily grind of becoming a contributing NBA player become. The Lakers start the season with three home games in five days.

“I think it will be different,” Bronny said of the opener. “It’s no different than when I’m getting ready for any other game, but just the feeling of being in our home arena for the first time and playing a game will be a special experience. … I’m just trying to come in and get better every day, learn from the guys that have been here before me. Take it all in and enjoy the experience.”

Bronny played in all six of the Lakers’ preseason games, but his 4.2 points per game average was vastly improved by his 17-point performance in last week’s preseason finale, in which the Lakers and Warriors both won the rested most of their key players.

Bronny hit 29.7% of his shots in the preseason while averaging 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists and playing 16.2 minutes per game. His defensive work was praised by Redick, who sees the 6-foot-1 guard becoming a solid perimeter player in the future.

“I’ve had some bad games, some tough starts, so I just kept up my game and played hard,” Bronny said.

Bronny is not expected to be an immediate rotation player for the Lakers, who already have 2023 first-round pick D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino ahead of him at point guard. There’s a good chance Bronny will start the season with the Lakers before heading to the G League to get the consistent playing time he likely needs to improve.

But he’s still excited to reach this milestone moment — and he’s even pretty sure what he’ll call his dad on the court after LeBron banned him from using “Dad.”

“Probably Bron,” Bronny said, smiling. “That will probably be the easiest.”

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APNBA: https://apnews.com/NBA