Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. attend the Lakers' home opener and watch LeBron-Bronny's debut

Ken Griffey Sr., Ken Griffey Jr., Bronny James and LeBron James pose for a photo before Tuesday's season opener.

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) —Lebron James Sr. and his son Bronny, wrote NBA history On Tuesday night, they played in the same game for the Los Angeles Lakers and Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. were there to witness it.

The first father-son duo to play together in Major League Baseball were courtside at the Lakers' downtown arena to witness the same history they made in Major League Baseball. The two sluggers became the first father-son duo in baseball to play 51 games together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991.

The Jameses and the Griffeys met during pregame warmups for a few photos and a heartfelt conversation between two notable family lines.

“The first father and son to play baseball, (and) now the first father and son to play basketball,” the younger Griffey said MLB Network Radio before the game. “It’s a big deal for my dad and I to be there. We made history. Now we can look at the history, that’s going to be the cool thing about it.”

Ken Griffey Jr. will bring Ken Griffey Sr. to watch @KingJames and Bronny in @Lakers Season opener.@MLB History meets @NBA Story, as Junior told me on The Road to Cooperstown podcast @MLBNetworkRadio And @baseballhall. @MLBNetwork https://t.co/YgRvqJK4VM

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 21, 2024

Father and son play together in North American professional sports about once a generation. The Griffeys accomplished this feat in 1990 and 1991, when they played 51 games for the Seattle Mariners – and even hit a home run in the same game on September 14, 1990.

LeBron and Bronny James open the second quarter on the court together for the first time in preseason.

Tim Raines and his son of the same name also played four games together for the Baltimore Orioles at the end of the 2001 season. Previously, Gordie Howe, along with his sons Mark and Marty, played in the WHA and NHL as well as for Team Canada in the 1970s.

Having grown up in his father's locker rooms and arenas in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles, Bronny is more than ready to leave the historic moment behind and throw himself into everyday life and become an active NBA player. The Lakers begin the season with three home games in five days.

Bronny played in all six of the Lakers' preseason games, but his 4.2 points per game average was boosted significantly by his 17-point performance in the preseason finale last week, in which both the Lakers and Warriors rested most of their key players.

Bronny hit 29.7% of his shots in the preseason while averaging 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists and playing 16.2 minutes per game. His defensive work was praised by Redick, who believes the 6-foot-2 guard will develop into a solid perimeter player in the future.

“I had some bad games, some tough starts, so I just kept going and played hard,” Bronny said.

Bronny is not expected to be an immediate rotation player for the Lakers. who already has D'Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent and 2023 first-round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino in front of him as point guard. There's a good chance Bronny will start the season with the Lakers before heading to the G League to get the consistent playing time he likely needs to improve.

But he's still thrilled to have reached this milestone — and he's even pretty sure what he'll call his father on the court after LeBron banned him from using “Dad.”

“Probably Bron,” Bronny said with a smile. “That will probably be the easiest one.”

Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. attend the Lakers' home opener and watch LeBron-Bronny's debut

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