Los Angeles Lakers is playing with home court advantage in the play-offs against Houston Rockets, starting on Saturday night (Sunday in European time), and it is expected that LeBron and Bronny James will play together, making it another first in NBA history: first time a father and a son play together in the NBA play-offs.
Despite Bronny James making his debut for the Lakers at the beginning of last season, in late 2024, it has been recently when coach JJ Reddick has trusted more in the 21-year-old, who up until now played more regularly in the G-League. LeBron James Jr. has played 13 minutes or more in seven of the past 10 games with the Lakers, averaging 19 minutes over the past four, and Reddick confirmed that he will use every healthy player available, specifically saying that Bronny has improved a lot defensively.
LeBron James, 41 years old, is proud of his son: "Every moment we get an opportunity to play together is something I never take for granted" LeBron said (via AP/NBA.com), praising how much he has improved despite some early criticism of "nepotism".
"Me being on the floor with him postseason, regular season, training camp, practices, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me in my career, above everything I've accomplished. The fact that he's put himself in position to get his number called for a postseason game is pretty remarkable and pretty cool, given the circumstances that he's been through over the last couple of years. He earned it. He deserves it. He'll be ready."
Los Angeles Lakers' first play-off game against Houston Rockets takes place on Sunday, April 19, at 02:30 CEST, 01:30 BST.
