LeBron and Bronny James make history as the NBA's first father-son duo: NPR

The Lakers' LeBron James (left) and Bronny James play in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

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Late in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' season opener, LeBron and Bronny James stepped onto the basketball court and made their way into the history books as the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game together, let alone on the same team.

It was a moment many years in the making.

The elder James, who was in his second NBA season when Bronny was born, was beginning his record-breaking 22nd season this week. The 39-year-old is the league's all-time leading scorer and is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, with four NBA championships and four NBA MVP titles.

He joined the Lakers in 2018. The team selected the younger James (full name: LeBron James Jr.) as a second-round pick this summer after he did only played one season with the University of Southern California.

The Jameses played together for the first time during a preseason game against the Phoenix Suns earlier this month, which happened to fall on Bronny's 20th birthday. But the real record and fanfare came on Tuesday when the Lakers took on the Minnesota Timberwolves in LA.

With four minutes left in the second quarter, both Jameses were came into the game togetherThey removed their warm-up jackets as the arena filled with cheers. A microphone captured their exchange just before on the bench.

“You see the intensity, right?” LeBron asked, prompting Bronny to nod. “But just play carefree. Don’t worry about making mistakes, just go out there and play hard.”

The two the court shared for about 2 ½ minutes, which was Bronny's only playing time that night. He missed two shot attempts but had one rebound, while his father contributed 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Lakers won 110-103, LeBron's first opening win in all of his years with the team. But it was those few minutes of playing time together that meant the most.

“It has always been the family that came above everything. “I lost a lot of time because of this league and my commitment to this league because I was traveling sometimes and missed a lot of (Bronny’s) stuff, Bryce’s stuff and Zhuri’s stuff,” LeBron said in a comment Post-game interviewrelated to his children. “Having this moment where I can still work and work alongside my son is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received from the man above and I will take full advantage of it.”

Bronny said it was a “crazy moment that I'll never forget” as he sat at the scorer's table with his dad, adding: “I'm just extremely grateful for everything.”

Bronny's debut was not without playful harassment: earlier in the day, his father tweeted a Nike ad in which he fills his son's car with cereal and then shouts “Hey Rook!” You better not be late,” and tells him to clean up before driving away from the mess.

“Yo, are you serious?” Bronny replies, adding, “You’re too old for that.”

By a sweet coincidence it was also Tuesday the 10th birthday from LeBron's daughter (and Bronny's sister) Zhuri, who was in attendance at the game. LeBron said later That made the day even more special.

“Everything was great today,” he said. “From the moment I woke up, I saw my daughter before she went to school. Went to work and saw my son at work. Come to the game and everything, man. The whole family. It was a great moment.”

Only a handful of other father-son duos have been teammates in North American professional sports

LeBron James, Ken Griffey Sr., Bronny James and Ken Griffey Jr. pose for a photo on Tuesday as the Jameses became the first father-son pair to play together in the NBA. The Griffeys have the same distinction in the MLB.

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Also watch – and film excitedly – In the stands Tuesday were Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., the first father-son duo to play together in the MLB. They played for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991.

“It’s a big deal for my dad and I to be there.” Griffey Jr. said The Road to Cooperstown Podcast earlier this week. “We made history, now we can see history.”

The Jameses join a very short list of father-son duos who have played together in major American sports.

Hockey great Gordie Howe played with his sons Mark and Marty for the Houston Aeros of the WHA in 1973–1974 and the Hartford Whalers of the NHL in the 1979–1980 season.

In August 2001, baseball players Tim Raines Sr. and Tim Raines Jr. formed the first father-son duo play against each other in a regular-season professional game when the Ottawa Lynx of the Triple-A International League played the Rochester Red Wings.

Baltimore Orioles left fielder Tim Raines Sr. poses with his son and teammate, center fielder Tim Raines Jr., before a game in October 2001.

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In October of that year, a series of events – including a post-9/11 scheduling delay, injuries and a temporary swap of managers who knew of Raines Sr.'s desire to play with his son – led to both Raines coming together plays for the Baltimore Orioles in the last week of the season.

They played together in four games and started together in the outfield in two of them.

“I have talked publicly for years about wanting to stay long enough to play at the same time as Tim Jr.,” Raines Sr. — who retired after the 2002 season — wrote in his 2017 autobiography Rock solid. “It never really occurred to me that we would ever have the opportunity to play on the same team.”

Raines Sr. welcomed the Jameses to the club in a tweet on Wednesday morning.

“It was an absolute joy playing with my son,” he wrote. “Congratulations to (LeBron and Bronny) for making NBA history and sharing this special moment together.”