In 2014, Doc Rivers made NBA history. That’s when his Los Angeles Clippers traded for his son, Austin, meaning he’d be the first coach to ever coach his son in the league, doing so until 2018.
Next season, the league is preparing to see another father-son duo. The Lakers selected Bronny James in the 2024 NBA Draft earlier this week, setting the table for him to join LeBron in Los Angeles this coming season. When they take the court together, it would mark the first time a father and son play in the same NBA game.
Bronny James’ NBA journey will start in the Summer League next month, and it could draw big viewership numbers, according to the Sports Business Journal. While speaking with SBJ, Doc Rivers pointed out the amount of pressure James will face in the league as he goes against his father, particularly on social media.
“Unfortunately for Bronny, he’s going to be under an incredible microscope, and at a time where – I always call ’em the cowards of Twitter and Instagram – people can make comments without showing their faces,” Rivers said. “And usually, those comments aren’t very nice. And it’s too bad, because the kid seems like he’s a terrific kid and doesn’t deserve any of the negative stuff.”
The expectation was the Lakers would take Bronny James with the No. 55 overall pick, and his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group reportedly told other teams not to take him before that point in the draft. Now that he’s on his way to Los Angeles, the next step will be Summer League.
But Rivers said the noise won’t stop there. It’ll continue through the start of the season, and that’ll add to the attention James receives during his rookie campaign.
“[Bronny’s] G league games will be packed early on, for sure,” Rivers said. “And if he plays well, then he’ll end up playing on the big league [Lakers]. It’ll be a story that keeps coming up, because there’s different benchmarks. Summer League, that’s going to be a story – how well is he playing in that?
“Training camp, there’s another story because now LeBron’s in training camp with his son. [At the] beginning of the year, is he going to play on the G League team? That’s going to be a story. Or if he’s not on the G league team and on the big team, that’s a story.”
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