The Lakers open their season Tuesday against Minnesota, the first of a schedule full of games against the best teams in the Western Conference where the margins in the standings are almost assuredly going to be really tight.
Add in a new, high-profile coach in JJ Redick and the game would already be full of enough built-in drama to justify its spot on the opening night schedule.
But the stakes against the Timberwolves for the new coach on the sideline are going to give way to a bigger story — if it happens.
Redick said Monday there have been no final decisions whether to play LeBron and Bronny James together against the Timberwolves. When it does happen, the two will be the first father-son duo ever on the court together in an NBA game.
Fittingly, the only father-son pair to play together in Major League Baseball, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., are expected to attend the game Tuesday in case history is made.
“Yeah it’s gonna be insane,” Bronny James said of having the Griffeys at the game. “Only two families to do it, so it’s going to be a crazy experience, especially with what they’ve done.”
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Redick played the two together once in the preseason — a moment the all-time leading scorer called surreal.
“We stood next to each other and I kinda looked at him, and it was just like, ‘Is this The Matrix or something?’” James said that night. “It just didn’t feel real.”
Bronny James has mostly downplayed playing with his father, instead choosing to focus on the smaller-picture jobs in front of him as one of the last players on the roster following his selection at No. 55 in the NBA draft.
“I’m just trying to come in and get better every day,” Bronny James said. “Learn from guys that have been here before me. Just take it all in and enjoy this experience.”
The anticipation is that Bronny James will spend time with the Lakers’ G League team once their season begins next month. In the meantime, he’s hoping the confidence gained from his final preseason game, when he scored 17 points, can carry over to whenever his next opportunity comes.
“Just keep playing,” he said when asked what he was proud of this preseason. “I had some bad games, some rough starts, so I’ll just continue to play my game and playing hard. You know, trying to figure it out.”
Tuesday against Minnesota, everyone is going to be watching because he’ll possibly be making history. But for the Lakers’ rookie, the game will also represent a success in his dream to make the league — a dream that nearly ended last year when he suffered cardiac arrest during a workout prior before his freshman year at USC.
Still, when they call his name to enter the game, the odds he overcame or the history he’ll be about to make won’t be on his mind.
Just basketball.
“I don’t feel like there will be time to do all that,” Bronny James said. “Especially when you’re checking in in the heat of the moment, so, I’ll probably take time to do that afterwards.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
