PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James grew up without a father, and the top scorer in NBA history has often said he savors every moment and milestone he can experience with his own three children.
When he stepped onto a court Sunday night to play alongside his son, Bronny, for the Los Angeles Lakers, this moment was more than basketball history to him.
It was the realization of a family dream.
LeBron and Bronny became the first father and son to play in any NBA game together during the first half of the Lakers ' preseason contest against Phoenix, playing just over four minutes side-by-side in the second quarter.
“It’s pretty cool for the both of us, and especially for our family,” LeBron said. “It’s definitely a moment that I will never forget.”
The James family's remarkable moment coincidentally happened on Bronny’s 20th birthday, and it felt like a celebration for the 39-year-old LeBron, who has spoken about his desire for this opportunity since Bronny was in high school.
Although LeBron knows they'll get more chances to play together in the Lakers' upcoming season, the first time on court together in uniform felt “not real” to the four-time NBA champion and 20-time All-Star.
“For a father, it means everything,” LeBron said. “For someone who didn’t have that growing up, to be able to have that influence on your kids and have that influence on your son, be able to have moments with your son — and the ultimate, to be able to work with your son — that’s one of the greatest things that a father could ever hope for or wish for.”
Bronny James entered the preseason game as a substitute to begin the second quarter, joining his father on court at Acrisure Arena in the Coachella Valley. Bronny was told by coach JJ Redick before the game that he would be playing alongside LeBron, but the rookie maintained his usual cool demeanor both before and after the moment.
“I was pretty psyched for that,” Bronny said.
Although he's much less vocal about the whole situation than LeBron, Bronny is still learning how to navigate an on-court relationship with his father, who has repeatedly insisted that his son can't call him “Dad” on the court.
“I’m always thinking about, ‘That’s my dad!’, because that’s literally my dad," Bronny said. "But when I’m playing, he’s just my teammate. That’s all.”
Their minutes together weren't as smooth as they'll be later in the season: Bronny committed two turnovers and LeBron made another in their first two minutes. Shortly after LeBron hit a 3-pointer moments later, LeBron got the ball to Bronny and set a screen for his son's 3-point attempt, but Bronny missed.
“I was really hoping that wing 3 would have gone in,” Redick said with a smile. “That would have been a cool moment. But they’ll have a lot of moments together, I’m sure.”
Bronny came off for a substitute 4:09 into the second quarter, and LeBron came off 25 seconds later at the next dead ball. LeBron had 19 points, five rebounds and four assists in 16 minutes during the first half, and he watched the Lakers' second half from the bench alongside Anthony Davis.
Bronny played about nine minutes in the second half, but didn’t score in the Lakers’ 118-114 loss to the Suns.
“I just told him, ‘Keep getting better,'” LeBron said. “He’s young. He wants to continue to improve, and that’s what’s most important. So every time you get a moment out there, just continue to make winning plays. Continue to learn from his mistakes and make winning plays.”
LeBron James is beginning his record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, while LeBron James Jr. — known to all as Bronny — was the Lakers’ second-round draft pick this summer. After recovering from cardiac arrest over a year ago, Bronny played just one season at Southern California before entering the draft.
Redick had vowed that the pairing would only happen “in the flow of the game,” and wouldn’t be “gimmicky.”
“I’m thrilled that I get to be a part of this, I really am,” Redick said. “It’s cool as a basketball fan. I think it speaks to LeBron’s longevity, but also his competitive stamina that he’s able to still be doing this in Year 22. It speaks to the work that Bronny has put in to get to this point, and really just the fatherly care, and certainly the motherly care from Savannah as well. Bronny, he’s such a great kid and a pleasure to be around.”
The 6-foot-2 Bronny is expected to spend much of the upcoming season working on his game with the South Bay Lakers of the G League, but he will almost certainly get to play alongside his 6-foot-9 father in a real game early in the regular season.
The games that count begin Oct. 22 at home against Minnesota.
Although LeBron will turn 40 in late December, the top scorer in NBA history has shown no sign of slowing down with age. LeBron sat out of the Lakers’ preseason opener against Minnesota last Friday night, resting up after a full week of training camp following a busy summer. Bronny had two points on 1-for-6 shooting and three blocked shots while playing 16 minutes against the Timberwolves.
LeBron was early in his second NBA season with the Cleveland Cavaliers when he and his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson, became parents for the first time in 2004. They had two more children — son Bryce and daughter Zhuri.
LeBron and Bronny have been preparing for the chance to play together ever since LeBron returned from a summer vacation after winning a gold medal with the U.S. team at the Paris Olympics.
The father and son have scrimmaged together repeatedly during workouts at the Lakers’ training complex, both as teammates and opponents.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Phoenix Suns guard Tyus Jones (21) dribbles under pressure from Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9), right, steps onto the court with Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)
Palestinian militants in Gaza fired four rockets into Israel on Monday as mourners marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, without disrupting a nearby ceremony.
Hamas also said it attacked Israeli forces in different parts of Gaza.
The Israeli military said three rockets were intercepted and a fourth fell in an open area. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
The military said it launched a wave of artillery and airstrikes overnight and into Monday to thwart what it said was an imminent attack. It said it targeted Hamas launch posts and underground militant infrastructure.
The fighting on the anniversary underscored the militants’ resilience in the face of a devastating Israeli offensive that has killed around 42,000 Palestinians, according to local medical officials. It has also destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population.
Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into nearby army bases and farming communities in a surprise attack one year ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding around 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. It has also vowed to strike Iran in response to a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.
Here is The Latest:
RE’IM, Israel — Hundreds of families and friends of people killed at the Nova music festival gathered Monday at the site of the attack, where nearly 400 were gunned down during Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault.
Families gathered around photos of their loved ones, which were arranged in a semicircle around what was the DJ stage. Many lit candles and added mementos or photos, crying and embracing. Overhead, army helicopters circled and constant booms echoed across the area, causing many to flinch.
“We can’t understand how a year has passed,” said Shimon Busika, whose son, Yarden, 25, was killed at the festival. “It’s the most natural place to be, to be here for this moment of silence,” he said.
Busika said it took them a long time, piecing together testimony from other survivors, to understand what happened in Yarden’s last moments. They now know he was killed around 9:20 near a yellow container at the festival where many others were killed, and they will hold a second minute of silence there at the moment he was killed.
The last sounds of the trance track that was playing at the Nova site on Oct. 7 one year ago stopped abruptly, as hundreds of family members and friends of the more than 300 victims stood in a moment of silence. One woman’s piercing wail broke the silence as booms echoed from the fighting in Gaza, just a few kilometers (miles) away.
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Twenty Indonesian nationals and a Lebanese evacuated from Lebanon arrived in Jakarta on a commercial flight early Monday and will likely be followed by 20 more in the afternoon, officials said.
President Joko Widodo has called to prioritize the evacuation of Indonesians in Lebanon as hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalate and fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East grow.
“I have directed the foreign affairs minister to take immediate action to ensure the safety and protection of our citizens and expedite their evacuation,” Widodo said last week.
Indonesia’s Embassy in Beirut had prepared evacuation procedures for citizens as part of its contingency planning since August. The Embassy evacuated 25 Indonesian citizens who returned safely to Indonesia last month, said Judha Nugraha, Director of Indonesian Citizen Protection at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
There are 116 registered Indonesian citizens in Lebanon, most of them students, migrant workers and people married to Lebanese nationals. Many of them have chosen to remain there for various reasons, Nugraha said.
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement Monday that the day carried “terrible pain” and his government “unequivocally” condemned Hamas' attack on Israel a year ago.
Hamas militants stormed from the blockaded Gaza Strip into nearby Israeli towns on Oct. 7 a year ago, killing dozens and abducting others in an unprecedented surprise attack.
Albanese said that since the attack, Jewish Australians have “felt the cold shadows of antisemitism reaching into the present day — and as a nation we say never again.”
“We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith,” Albanese said.
He added that “every innocent life matters” and the number of civilians killed in the conflict was “a devastating tragedy.”
“Today we reflect on the truth of our shared humanity, of the hope that peace is possible, and the belief that it belongs to all people,” Albanese said.
BEIRUT — A new round of airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs late Sunday as Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon. Palestinian officials said a strike on a mosque in Gaza killed at least 19 people.
Rocket sirens and blasts were heard in Haifa in northern Israel late Sunday, and Hezbollah claimed the attack. Israel’s military said at least five projectiles were identified coming from Lebanon and “fallen projectiles” were found in the area. The military showed what appeared to be rubble along a street. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it was treating a teen with shrapnel injuries to the head and a man who fell from a window due to a blast.
A year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel along the border since the war in Gaza began. Israel also has vowed to strike Iran after a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.
Lebanese men ride a scooter past a damaged building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
People visit the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Victoria stands in front a picture of her sister, Yulia Waxer Daunt, as she visits the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A man takes pictures by his mobile phone of destroyed buildings hit by Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Victoria stands in front a picture of her sister, Yulia Waxer Daunt, as she visits the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds of revelers were killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, on the one-year anniversary of the attack, near Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
