Bronny James’ Heartwarming Nod To Dad LeBron In Lakers Loss to Timberwolves

Former USC Trojans guard Bronny James made his NBA Playoff debut with the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bronny wore shoes that mirrored the shoe colorway that his father, LeBron James wore in his NBA debut.

Apr 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) defends on the court in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Former USC Trojans and current Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James suited up for his first NBA Playoff game on Wednesday night vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves. The shoes that Bronny wore for his NBA Playoff debut were the same colorway that his father, Lakers’ star LeBron James wore in his NBA debut back in 2003. 

Bronny played two minutes and was held scoreless. It was not the start to the playoffs that the Lakers wanted, as they got dominated and lost 117-95.

Bronny James Wears LeBron's NBA Debut Shoe Colorway

Apr 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) is defended by Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) in the first quarter at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Bronny James suited up for Saturday night’s game with shoes that mirrored the colorway his father, LeBron James wore for his NBA debut in 2003. Now nearly 22 years later, Bronny and LeBron are on the same team.

Bronny broke out the “Debut” Nike Air Zoom Generation for his first playoff game 👀

LeBron wore the colorway when he played his first regular season game in 2003 👑

📹 @NBAKicks pic.twitter.com/v5lJg8n0Yx

— Sole Retriever (@SoleRetriever) April 20, 2025

After one season at USC, Bronny was selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. On opening night back in October, Bronny and LeBron made NBA history, becoming the first ever father-son duo to take the court together. 

Bronny didn’t see much NBA action this season. He appeared in 27 regular season games and averaged 2.3 points. As the season progressed, he played more G-League games for the South Bay Lakers. Bronny showed much improvement in his G-League stints and averaged 20.6 points for South Bay.

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Lakers Fall In Game 1 Vs. Wolves

Apr 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) is defended by Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The No. 3 seeded Los Angeles Lakers were upset by the No. 6 seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 on Saturday night by a final score of 117-95. Despite the Lakers getting out to an early eight-point lead and Luka Doncic wowing everybody with 16 points in the first quarter, it was not enough to hold off a hungry Timberwolves team. 

Minnesota shot an astounding 21 for 42 from three point land. They outscored the Lakers 38-20 in the second quarterback to take the lead and never looked back. The Wolves led by as many as 27 points in the dominating victory. Leading the way was Jaden McDaniels with 25 points on 11 for 13 shooting and Anthony Edwards with 22 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. Minnesota also got a massive bench contribution from Naz Red, who had 23 points on 8 for 12 from the field.

The Lakers got a lot from Luka Doncic, but not much else. Doncic finished with a game high 37 points, but there was n other Laker that scored 20 points. LeBron James had a quiet night by his standards and had 19 points. Lakers' coach JJ Redick has some work to do in preparation for Game 2. The Lakers cannot afford to drop both Game 1 and Game 2 at home. They’ll have to do a much better job guarding the three point line and the getting to the basket on the offensive end.  

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