The Los Angeles Lakers picked up an opening night win on Tuesday in impressive fashion over the Minnesota Timberwolves, as they built a massive lead in the first half and held on to that for a 110-103 win to start their season. It was the first win for JJ Redick as a head coach and featured a dominant performance by Anthony Davis, who put up 36 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a spectacular showing against Rudy Gobert and the Wolves. And yet, the story of the night on a national scale was the first ever game featuring a father and son sharing the floor, as Bronny James made his NBA debut alongside LeBron in the second quarter.
It was a brief 3-minute stint for Bronny and it didn’t quite hit the movie script beats as, despite their best efforts, they couldn’t create a Bron to Bronny or Bronny to Bron bucket. Still, it was a historic moment and one that the James family won’t forget, and made even better by the fact the Lakers got the win, avoiding any questions over whether the Bronny and LeBron moment created a distraction. That win part was what Anthony Davis highlighted after the game with a laugh, because as he noted, the Lakers have tended to lose all of the big LeBron moment games in the past.
Anthony Davis: “This is the first time we had a LeBron moment that was something huge and we won”
LMAO pic.twitter.com/Ml6jhW2kVa
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) October 23, 2024
The most notable of those was the game he broke the career scoring record, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in what ended up a loss to the Thunder. They’ve also lost games where James has moved up various all-time lists, like passing Jason Kidd for fifth all-time in triple-doubles, which forces James to separate his feelings on a career milestone from the loss on the court. In this instance, he could simply enjoy the moment and a win together, which Davis was happy to contribute to, allowing his co-star to only answer positive questions after the game.