LeBron James’ message to Bronny before his debut goes viral

LeBron James shared a wholesome moment with his son Bronny on Tuesday before the Los Angeles Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.

With the Lakers leading 11-7 midway through the first quarter, LeBron was subbed out and sat on the bench next to Bronny.

LeBron, who was mic’d up for the contest, had a message for Bronny ahead of the latter’s first taste of NBA basketball.

LeBron: “You ready?”

Bronny: “Yup.”

LeBron: “You see the intensity, right?

Bronny: “Yeah.”

LeBron: “Just play carefree though. Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”

LeBron: "You ready?"

Bronny: "Yup."

This LeBron and Bronny moment mic’d up ❤️🎙️ pic.twitter.com/ffzTOoIdCx

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2024

The exchange evidently felt more like a father talking to his son rather than a veteran talking to a wide-eyed rookie.

All eyes were on LeBron and Bronny from the moment the Lakers took the court for shootaround. A photo of the two standing next to each other during warmups also went viral for a different reason.

Bronny saw his first action with about four minutes left in the second quarter. He played just over two minutes next to LeBron before being subbed out for the remainder of the game.

The younger James missed his only two shot attempts and grabbed one rebound in the 110-103 Lakers win. LeBron had a relatively quiet outing himself with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists on 7/16 shooting.