CLEVELAND – With the game all but decided early in the second half, the Cavaliers cruising to a 134-110 victory and their first 5-0 start since 2016, the Cleveland crowd began cheering for the other team Wednesday night .

Specifically for Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James, son of LeBron, the greatest player in Cavaliers history.

A “We want Bronny!” The chant started midway through the third quarter and was picked up again midway through the fourth when Lakers coach JJ Redick chimed in and called him in for just the second regular-season game of his early career.

And this time he got his first NBA bucket.

Bronny scored on a 15-foot step-back jumper from the left wing over Jaylon Tyson with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter, prompting the wave of fans who stuck around to see the moment to stand up and show appreciation show for hometown product .

“It was crazy,” Bronny said of the reception after finishing with 2 points, 2 assists and 1 steal in five minutes. “A lot more than I expected for sure. But it’s all love. It was crazy. It was a nice moment. The chants really touched me. I had a straight face, but I felt it and it felt really good, especially because I came from here.

“Yes, it was definitely a special moment for me.”

LeBron said moments like this might have consumed him when he was a rookie with the Cavs in 2003.

“He’s better than I would have been in that situation: 20,000 fans shouting my name to get in the game and wanting me to be in the game, and if the role was reversed I don’t know if I could have done that. ” deal with it,” said LeBron, who scored 26 points but had six turnovers as he lost for just the third time in 12 games as an opponent in Cleveland. “To see him get his first NBA basket in this arena where he doesn’t grew up far away from here is an incredible moment.

“First of all, an incredible moment for him. For our family. It’s just pretty cool to be a part of that.”

Bronny last played on opening night, joining LeBron in the second quarter against the Timberwolves and shooting 0-for-2 from the field in three minutes. This time, he took the court as his father watched from the sidelines and his grandmother Gloria sat in the stands wearing a Lakers hat as she watched another generation compete in the family business.

“I’ve been learning to play the right way my whole life,” Bronny said while sitting next to LeBron during their post-game press conference. “So when I go in there and play my game, that’s always something I’m going to do.”

The crowd shouted for Bronny to shoot the ball from the moment he checked in with 5:16 left in the fourth quarter. His teammates made seven shot attempts over the next three minutes before he finally hoisted one.

The game came 10 years to the day when LeBron played his first game of his second stint with the Cavs — a four-year stint in which he led the team to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances and captured its only championship in franchise history in 2016. breaking a 53-year title drought for the city.

Although the Akron, Ohio native was initially vilified by Cleveland sports fans when he signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat in 2010, his return healed old wounds and the region rallied around LeBron and his family. That was abundantly clear on Wednesday, when the Cavs greeted LeBron and Bronny with welcome footage of them celebrating the title over the Golden State Warriors on a video screen near the visitors’ locker room and then used a first-quarter timeout to shoot a tribute video play for the father-son couple.

“We spent a lot of years here,” LeBron said afterward. “We’re obviously part of this community. … We were born not far from here, 35 miles south of here, (our) hometown of Akron. And I spent 11 years of my NBA career – half of my career – here.

“We have so many great moments. We have so many great moments, not just on the floor in this arena, regardless of the name, whether it was the Gund Arena or the Q, and now it’s Rocket Mortgage. … A lot of great memories on the field, but also a lot of great memories outside the room in this community. It’s definitely very humbling to have mutual respect and love for what we were able to achieve in the years we were here.”

For Bronny, who said playing pickup games on a practice court tucked away on the top level of the arena while his father played NBA games, he was able to experience his time on stage.

“Pretty much since I picked up the ball,” Bronny said when asked how long he envisioned scoring his first basket in the pros. “I watched my dad play for a minute in the league. I dreamed of following in those players’ footsteps, not just LeBron’s, but the players he used to play with.

“So yeah, it was just a dream come true for me.”