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Griffeys will join father LeBron in Bronny James’ potential Lakers debut

Griffeys will join father LeBron in Bronny James’ potential Lakers debut

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The Lakers say they don’t know whether LeBron and Bronny James will make history Tuesday as the first father-son duo in a real NBA game, but that won’t stop baseball’s royal family from being there to be there to experience it.

When the Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves in both teams’ season opener on Tuesday, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. will be at Crypto.com Arena, the younger Griffey told MLB Network Radio on Monday.

The Griffeys are among a rare group of father-son duos to appear in the same major professional sports game – a feat they achieved when they both played for the Seattle Mariners on August 31, 1990.

“It’s a big deal for me and my dad to be there,” Ken Griffey Jr. told MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi on the “Road to Cooperstown” broadcast on SiriusXM. “We made history and now we can look at history. That’s going to be the cool thing about it.”

Well, Junior, you should know that when Lakers coach JJ Redick was asked after practice on Monday if plans to bring Bronny into the game when LeBron is on the court were finalized, Redick said, “Still is.” nothing finalized.”

And when Bronny was asked if he knew if he would play, he said, “No, I don’t know.”

Whether the Griffeys — or anyone else — believe the Lakers are shying away from making history is another question. Bronny said he knew the Griffeys planned to attend the game.


The Griffeys, circa 1990. (Ken Levine/Allsport via Getty Images)

“It’s going to be a crazy experience,” Bronny said. “Especially with what they did.”

Bronny, 20, briefly appeared alongside LeBron in a preseason game on October 6, becoming the first son to attend an NBA game of any kind with his father. The younger James, drafted 55th overall in June, has struggled for much of this preseason for the Lakers but gained momentum by scoring 17 points in the Lakers’ final exhibition game against Golden State on Friday. He had only scored eight points in the entire preseason before his outburst against the Warriors.

“Yeah it’s going to be crazy – only two (sic) families doing it so it’s going to be a crazy experience. Especially with what they did,” Bronny said.

(Note: It’s rare, but it won’t be the second time. When Bronny plays on Tuesday, the Jameses join a group that includes hockey player Howes – father Gordie and sons Mark and Marty with the 1979 Hartford Whalers – 80 – and Tim belong to Raines Sr. and Tim Raines Jr., who played together for the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.)

Bronny has watched countless Lakers games from a courtside seat over the past six years, since his father joined the team as a free agent in the summer of 2018 and the family moved from Cleveland. But he has yet to play there in the purple and gold — none of the Lakers’ five preseason contests took place at Crypto.

“I think it will be different,” Bronny admitted. “It’s no different than when I prepare for every game, but just the feeling of being in our home arena and playing a game for the first time is special.”

Should Bronny hear his name from Redick, he said he wouldn’t have time to reflect on the path he took to make history, “especially in the heat of battle.”

And should he find himself on the floor with the Lakers’ No. 6, a 6-foot-4 guy who happens to be the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Bronny said he’s decided how he’s going to get his attention. As the duo has said before, “Papa” probably won’t work in the running game.

“Probably Bron,” Bronny said. “That’ll probably be the easiest one, I’d say.”

Required reading

(Top photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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