Lakers and Timberwolves announce starters for regular season opener

Los Angeles Lakers rookie point guard Bronny James, son of 20-time All-NBA Lakers combo forward LeBron James, was scheduled to play for at least part of the official opening game of the 2024-25 regular season in Los Angeles against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which is scheduled to take place soon Tuesday night at 7 p.m. PT.

Now, first-year Los Angeles head coach JJ Redick reveals that Los Angeles will actually try to find a way to feature the 6-foot-2 USC product, according to Darren M. Haynes of KCAL/KCBS Los Angeles.

LA selected the younger James with the No. 55 pick in the June 2024 NBA Draft. The bigger story from a pure on-court chemistry perspective was the Lakers' decision to grab 6-foot-11 former University of Tennessee Volunteers All-American shooting guard Dalton Knecht. Knecht has already emerged as perhaps the Lakers' best bench player before the start of the 2024-25 season. The 23-year-old appeared in five games during the Lakers' preseason, going 2-4 and averaging an impressive 18.0 points on a .437/.360/.833 slash line, 4.2 rebounds, 2, 0 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks in 26.7 minutes per night off the bench.

Bronny James had a miserable run in all but two playoff games. He posted a team-high +17 plus-minus in the Lakers' 128-122 preseason win over the Phoenix Suns last week, despite scoring just four points and grabbing one rebound on 2-of-4 shooting. In the preseason finale in Los Angeles, he posted a disastrous plus-minus of -37 while scoring in double figures for the first time in the preseason. He scored 17 points on 7 of 17 shooting from the field (1 of 5 from beyond the 3-point line) and 2 of 2 shooting from the foul line, while also knocking down four boards and dishing out a dime, a steal steal and block a shot.

While playing in all six preseason contests, the 20-year-old finished with an average of 4.2 points on .297/.083/.500 shooting splits, 1.7 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.5 steals per night over 16.2 minutes per game. It is already clear that Bronny James will spend most of his rookie season with the Lakers' G League affiliate in El Segundo, the South Bay Lakers. Still, Redick seems ready to rise to the moment.

When (when?) the two James generations face off against each other on Tuesday night, they will make very special NBA history and become the first father-son duo to ever play in a league game together, let alone on the same team.

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