After being selected with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of USC, Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James is slated to suit up alongside his father, 20-time All-NBA combo forward LeBron James, making league history in the process. They’ll be the first father-son duo to share the floor. The fact that they’ll be doing that as teammates is quite the twist.
Per Greg Beacham of The Associated Press (via NBA.com), Bronny James recently reflected on his excitement for practicing alongside his father (and still-roommate) during the Lakers’ Media Day festivities on Monday.
“I think I’m most looking forward to practice, just going head to head with each other,” Bronny said. “That’s such a crazy feeling, to be in practice with your dad and competing at a high level. But on the other side of that, having to go against LeBron James is kind of a lot in practice every day. But yeah, I’m looking forward to it as well.”
The elder James, 39, will be the oldest active player in the league for the second consecutive season. The 6-foot-9 vet, a four-time league MVP and champion, appears poised for yet another terrific, stat-stuffing individual season in 2024-25. Last year, as the top offensive focus for a 47-35 Lakers club, LeBron averaged 25.7 points on .540/.410/.750 shooting splits, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.5 rejections a night across 71 contests.
As of this writing, the Lakers are set to return more or less the same roster they had at the end of last year. L.A. lost point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and small forward Cam Reddish to free agency this summer. Dinwiddie returned to the Dallas Mavericks, while Reddish joined the Milwaukee Bucks. Both were signed to minimum deals after underwhelming stints in Los Angeles. The Lakers replaced Dinwiddie and Reddish in the draft, by selecting Bronny and former Tennessee Volunteers shooting guard Dalton Knecht.
Los Angeles’ biggest offseason move, however, involved personnel beyond the hardwood. The Lakers hired first-time head coach JJ Redick to replace now-Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, who posted a 90-74 combined regular season record during his two years at the helm. Ham’s Lakers did advance to the Western Conference Finals in 2023, but he clearly frustrated team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka with his inconsistent rotations and prioritization of mediocre defense over mediocre offense.
