LeBron James spoke after the Lakers’ preseason loss to the Suns about playing with Bronny James. James noted that it was a special moment to be able to share the court with his son as a teammate and one that he won’t soon forget. As a father, he was delighted he could have this moment, harkening back to his own difficult childhood and not being able to have those kinds of moments.

“Cool for the both of us and especially for our family, pretty cool… Definitely a moment that I will never forget… For a father, it means everything.”

“For someone who didn’t have that growing up, to be able to have that influence on your kids, influence on your son, and be able to have moments with your son – and then ultimately to be able to work with your son, that’s one of the greatest things a father could ever hope or wish for, so it was pretty cool.”

Despite the 118-114 loss to the Suns, you can tell from James’ comments how much it meant for him to play with his son. Even though it was a preseason game, to be able to create history as the first-ever father-son duo to play together in the NBA must have been a very emotional and heartwarming experience for James.

As a father, James will also want to be supportive of Bronny, after he had a poor performance against the Suns, with just 2 rebounds, 3 fouls, and 4 turnovers. Some of Bronny’s mistakes late in the game cost the Lakers the win against the Suns, and fans sounded off on him on social media after the game.

Bronny James: I’m Always Thinking About ‘That’s My Dad’

Bronny James also spoke after the game, talking about what it was like watching his father put on a great performance, and whether he approached it as his son or his teammate. Bronny hilariously responded that he will always think about LeBron as his father because that is who he is, but on the court, he treats him like a teammate.

“I’m always thinking about ‘That’s my dad’ because that’s literally my dad. When I’m playing he’s just my teammate. That’s all I’m thinking at that point.”

LeBron James was back to his signature best against the Suns, putting up 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in just 16 minutes on the court. James sat out the second half, which played a big part in the Lakers losing the game despite leading by 16 points.

JJ Redick spoke about letting Bronny and LeBron share the court as teammates, noting that he wanted to let them do so during the preseason, and the second quarter felt like the right time to do just that.

Perhaps Redick is giving the father-son pairing as many chances to play together before Bronny goes down to the G-League and becomes a fixture there. From the level of play we have seen from Bronny in his first two preseason games, it looks like he won’t get many opportunities in the G-League unless he takes a major leap during the season.