Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

LeBron, Bronny James' Debut Lakers Game to Have Ken Griffey Jr., Dad in Attendance

Joseph Zucker

Ken Griffey Jr. and his dad will be on hand to witness another groundbreaking father/son duo make history.

Griffey said on The Road to Cooperstown that he and Ken Sr. are planning to watch LeBron and Bronny James suit up together for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers open the regular season Tuesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Bronny said Monday he was excited to hear about the Griffeys, adding that it will be a "crazy experience" (2:55 in video):

The Jameses were briefly on the floor at the same time in the Lakers' 118-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 6.

In terms of the official record books, LeBron and Bronny have already earned a special place for themselves. Teaming up in the regular season will obviously feel more meaningful.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Oct. 10 on Get Up the Lakers were planning to have them play together on opening night:

From the moment LeBron first outlined this as a personal goal, the Griffeys were the clear parallel.

The Seattle Mariners selected Junior with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 draft and he made his MLB debut in 1989. Seattle then signed Senior midway through the 1990 season, and the two Griffeys were on the lineup card for the first time in a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 31.

Their best moment came when they hit back-to-back home runs in a 7-5 loss to the California Angels on Sept. 14.

As special as it will be to see LeBron and Bronny in the same game, the partnership may not last much beyond opening night.

With the Lakers looking to contend for a championship, it will be tough to get Bronny the kind of playing time he'll need to fully develop on the court. In six preseason games, the 6'2" guard averaged 4.2 points on 29.7 shooting along with 0.3 assists to 1.2 turnovers, numbers that underline how much his game has room to grow.

Reporting for ESPN in July, Adrian Wojnarowski said Los Angeles could shift Bronny over to its NBA G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, after the opening week.

   

Read 240 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)