Timberwolves-Lakers: 5 insights into how LeBron and Bronny James are making NBA history

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LOS ANGELES — In reality it took 2 minutes and 41 seconds. In all likelihood it will last the rest of our lives.

A father and son shared the floor at an NBA game. First time. Maybe the last one? To replicate what LeBron James and Bronny James accomplished, a father must first play in the NBA for about two decades, which is rare enough.

Still, that's no guarantee that the son will play or even decide to play basketball.

And so history happened four minutes before halftime at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night, as father and son both entered the game against the Timberwolves. Fans stood, cell phone cameras flashed, and the sound of horns was drowned out by applause.

Here are five takeaways from the Lakers' 110-103 win, starting with what everyone wanted to see:

1. Checking in for the Lakers, James and James

The situation and setting were almost perfect – the score was 52-35 for the Lakers and the final minutes were approaching halftime.

So there was no need to force the issue and make the situation uncomfortable. Bronny, the 55th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, was not the first player to come off the bench. And he didn't stay in the game past the next timeout and didn't return in the second half.

The way these things could possibly go, it happened naturally and sensibly.

The only downside was that Bronny missed a 3-pointer after catching a cross-court pass from his father. If that ball had swung – with a bron-to-bron connection – the arena would have burst. Instead, the crowd let out a collective groan. Still, history.

Bronny made two shots, the first, a follow-up attempt, deflected off Rudy Gobert. He showed solid rotational movement and defensive instincts. Then his night was over.

“Everything was great today,” said LeBron. “I saw my daughter (Zhuri, who turned 10) before she went to school and saw my son at work.”

LeBron deserves this because he respects the game enough to keep him in top shape, obviously because he played at a high level for decades and lasted so long in the league, and because he prepared his son for this moment.

Whatever happens next is actually meaningless. Bronny can go to the G-League as expected and fall through the cracks, or return to the Lakers' roster and be just a backup because the historic goal has been achieved. Everything else is secondary.

2. The Griffeys came first

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Jr. were in attendance at the game and posed for a photo with LeBron and Bronny before the release. The Griffeys became the first father-son tandem in baseball on August 31, 1990 for the Seattle Mariners.

“It was a different situation for me than it was for LeBron,” Griffey Sr. said Tuesday after the game. “Seattle tried to get rid of me. I was in the league for 18 years. Also, I didn’t think (Junior) would get drafted from the minors. Then the regular first baseman got hurt, they didn't have anyone but me to play the position… I hit .314 in the spring, so they couldn't get rid of me. And my son set records in spring training, and so we became father and son. I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.”

Two moments captured their two seasons together: They hit back-to-back home runs in September 1990, and Griffey Sr. said: “I was the first one to hit the home run, so all the pressure was on him. The count was 3-0 and I thought it would just run. The next pitch was a drop, and he still made it. He had to reach for it because he wanted to make it happen.”

The next? As a junior, he rushed in and caught a fly ball intended for his father as they played in the outfield. Griffey Sr. said, “I grounded him for that.”

Those memories came flooding back to the Griffeys on Tuesday, and Griffey Sr. was particularly captivated by that moment.

“It’s just legendary to see those two,” he said of LeBron and Bronny. “As a father, I loved every minute of it and I know LeBron did too.”

3. Davis makes an MVP-like debut

Aside from Bronny getting burned, the next welcome sight from the Lakers' perspective was Anthony Davis, who made a powerful opening statement.

In a word, he was dominant: 36 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks. And usually against a four-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year. In that sense, it was Paris redux – Davis played well on Team USA, which won the gold medal and defeated Gobert and France in the final.

There will be nights, perhaps many of them, when the Lakers will need Davis to be the best player on the court on both ends, and he's certainly capable of that.

Davis has never won the DPOY Award, but that didn't show Tuesday, especially after a tough block on Gobert denying a dunk.

4. Edge more rusty than finished

He only played in one preseason game and missed part of last season in New York with injury, so perhaps Julius Randle's early return went as expected.

He seemed disjointed all night, never establishing a smooth flow and often falling victim to his biggest flaw – poor ball-handling and poor decision-making.

Randle will likely establish himself and give the Wolves a much-needed second scorer after Edwards for two reasons: He's playing for a contract extension and when healthy, he's All-Star eligible.

However, there is a problematic byproduct of the trade that was brought to New York. Randle can be an average 3-point shooter at best. However, he replaces one of the better shooting big men in recent history. The decline in this area is putting pressure on others like Donte DiVincenzo to compensate. But DiVincenzo shot 2-8 from distance.

5. Ant can't do everything

Will the Wolves operate like this for most of the season with Anthony Edwards as the only reliable volume shooter? With Towns gone, Edwards shot 25 times (for 27 points despite consistent double teams); The next highest was DiVincenzo with 11.

The Wolves were the best defensive team in the league last season, but scoring was still a problem. A lot depends on Randle, a proven 20-point scorer, and how he fits next to Edwards. But there is also a sense of offensive urgency from others and whether they can improve their game.

It's up to DiVincenzo, Kia Sixth Man Award winner Naz Reid, and perhaps Jaden McDaniels, who, while a weak defender, is very inconsistent offensively and limited to corners.

The Wolves reached the conference finals last season. This time, their chances of going one step further and reaching the NBA Finals depend on Minnesota's ability to find the right balance. That wasn't the case in the season opener, when they shot 41% overall and 31% from distance.

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Shaun Powell has been covering the NBA for more than 25 years. You can send him an email Herefind his archive here And Follow him on X.

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