LeBron James reminisces about first game with son Bronny James in NBA

LeBron James may be the most accomplished basketball player in the history of the sport. Amid all the championships, records and everything in between, suiting up with his son Bronny James with the Los Angeles Lakers stands above it all.

The 40-year old legend joined The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, where he took part in a candid conversation. He reminisced about what it was like to play with his son at highest level in the sport, and why it still hasn’t sunk in for the four-time NBA champion.

“Seeing that that pop fly head towards Ken Griffey Sr., and then see [Ken Griffey] Jr. over there, right before the ball got to his glove, he snatched it out there and ran back to the dugout like, laughing at his pops — that was a cool ass moment. For that moment, that home opener versus Minnesota. Seeing Griffey Jr. man, and seeing his pops over there. Us getting that picture at half court, and then us going out on the floor and having that moment. Physically, I wasn’t even there. I wasn’t even there. I’m floating,” James stated, harkening back to a moment between him, his son and another famous father-son duo in the Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. “I can only imagine where Bronny was. We haven’t even talked about it yet. At some point, we will. But I wasn’t even there. 

“I was so — I wasn’t, I might have been in the rafters. I might have been at home. My body may have been at home, watching the game. Watching the moment. I completely was not there. But damn, that was an unbelievable moment. For me to be able to like, have that dream. Be able to speak it into existence. For it to come to fruition. For my mom and my wife and my daughter and my youngest son to be there is like — you know, I started thinking about everything. 

“From what the hell he went through, less than a year before — with his cardiac arrest. That came out of nowhere. Quite honestly, if he never played sports, or he never, like, started to become, you know, strong and run fast and all those stuff, we probably would have to worry about it. But as he got stronger and things of that nature, it was just something inside his heart that, you know, was just pounding at his heart and pounding at his lungs. Unfortunately, we had the incident. … Fortunately, we were able to catch it before it gets to the point where they’re not here anymore. 

“To see that happen to Bronny, and for him to be able to play that same year after that happened at USC, and then less than a year later be drafted by the Lakers. Then, in the fall, we go out there together? That’s why I wasn’t there.”

It’s understandable why James would be emotional about the moment, and everything that came with his son making it to the Lakers. He’ll have plenty of time to appreciate what it meant in the future, but right now he’s attempting to win his second title since taking his talents to Los Angeles.

Simply playing with his son is an incredible feat. But if LeBron James and Bronny James can help Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and the rest of the Lakers deliver an NBA title? That would be other-worldly. Doubt the father-son duo at your own risk.