In the preseason, LeBron and Bronny discussed finding the right balance between treating each other as teammates and kin, and for much of Tuesday night, their interactions looked no different than those of any team-mate duo. They high-fived after singing the national anthem before tipoff, and after LeBron played the first five minutes of the game, he took a seat at the end of the Lakers’ bench, four seats away from his son.

Although the two had already played together in the preseason, the practice statistics do not count towards the NBA’s record, making Tuesday the official “first” lineup with both father and son. As the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and expected to become the all-time leader in minutes played this season, the elder James was already one of the most prolific, prolific athletes in the league’s history. But what happened Tuesday, when he overlapped his son, was more personal.

Bronny was born just weeks before the start of his father’s second NBA season in 2004.

“He’s his own man, and just to see him continue to grow is a joy to watch,” LeBron said during the team’s shootaround hours before tipoff Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I missed so many days playing and they were in elementary school, middle school and high school. I’ve missed many days. So to be able to kind of recoup some of those days now, being together and working together, I mean, it’s pretty cool.

He reminded reporters of the uncertainty over whether Bronny would have a chance to play in the NBA after he suffered cardiac arrest while training at the University of Southern California in the summer of 2023. Bronny recovered in time to return to play in December. averaged 4.8 points in his lone season of college ball.

Watching his father win an NBA championship in 2016 while rallying in Cleveland to beat Golden State in a historic comeback strengthened Bronny’s drive to reach the league himself, he said. It was confirmed in August, when he watched his father play for Team USA and beat Serbia at the Paris Olympics in a chaotic match.

“Both said, ‘Dang, this is a crazy sport. I really want to be a part of this,” Bronny said.

On Tuesday he was part of it for the first time as a professional – and that happened together with his father.

“Everything,” said LeBron, “was just great today.”