The moment basketball fans are waiting for seems to have confirmed date. With the NBA schedule release Thursday, we can already highlight the Los Angeles Lakers‘ season opener on our calendars as it could be the first time we see LeBron James play next to his eldest son, Bronny.
The Lakers will play the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night on Tuesday, October 22, at 10:00 PM (ET). Of course, all eyes will be on Bronny James‘ potential NBA debut with his illustrious father as teammate.
The purple and gold will play on home soil, which means this could be a huge opportunity for Lakers fans to attend what might be the first game of the James duo.
LA will play two more games at Crypto.com Arena in back-to-back nights on Oct. 25 and 26 against the Suns and Kings, respectively. Their first road game will be on Oct. 28 in Phoenix.
While Bronny’s presence on opening night remains uncertain, chances are the 19-year-old will get to play with LeBron at the beginning of the season before he eventually joins the Lakers G League affiliate South Bay Lakers.
Bronny expected to play alongside LeBron James in NBA opening week
“What the Lakers’ expectations are is that he’ll largely be a G League player, like almost any 19-year-old player coming into the league drafted in the second round,” Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said about Bronny James shortly after the 2024 NBA Draft.
Woj, however, suggested the Lakers’ idea is to give basketball fans what they want by letting Bronny play alongside LeBron in the opening week of the 2024-25 NBA season:
“I think what you’ll ultimately, probably see is Bronny James in the first week of the season on the court with his father in a very … I don’t want to call it ceremonial, but the eyes of the world will be on that. They’ll do that the first week of the season, but there’s no expectation Bronny James is going to be in the Lakers’ rotation.”
Both Bronny and LeBron have taken things easy when discussing this situation with the media. While the guard is accepting any role he’s given, his father is just happy to see his son make it to the NBA.
The USC Trojans product, who spent only one season in college, has already suited up for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League. Now, the franchise will probably take things slowly with him, even if they know the world can’t wait to see the first father-son duo in league history.