LeBron and Bronny James are making history as a father-son pairing in the playoffs.
The father-son paring of LeBron James and Bronny James entered a new dimension in the Los Angeles Lakers' game three win over the Houston Rockets and it's a new level that the elder James thinks will pay off in the long run for Bronny's career.
The longevity of LeBron James has led to a number of frankly absurd statistics and milestones throughout his career, but the fact that he's been able to play with his own son on the Lakers remains the overwhelming testament to how long he's been dominating the league.
With the Lakers missing both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the series against the Rockets, Bronny, who has been an end-of-the-bench role player throughout his brief career, has been elevated to a much more important role for the Lakers.
Bronny Contributing
He played meaningful playoff minutes in game three, scoring five points on 2-2 shooting in nine minutes in the court. Those five points from James alone were more than the entire Rockets' bench scored in game three.
James' two shots were a three pointer at the top of the arc and possibly the most special connection between James and his father in their shared careers, an alley-oop layup assisted from LeBron.
That particular connection came in the second quarter after LeBron grabbed a defensive rebound and began taking it down court. Bronny was left open on the other end and seeing his dad with the ball in his hands, cut in toward the hoop to pick up the pass and lay it in for the first father-to-son assist in NBA playoff history.
What The Playoffs Mean For Bronny's Development
As great as the novelty of having two generations of James on the same team in the playoffs has been, LeBron also sees the benefit of Bronny playing in the playoffs for his son's career going forward.
"The amount of confidence that a young kid in our league can get from a postseason game... you'll never get nervous from a regular season moment ever again when you play meaningful postseason games," James said (via The Sporting Tribune.) "He's done that and I think that's pretty cool for his career and his confidence."
Bronny could be relied on even more going froward in the series and the playoffs at large, not only because of the clear lift that he gives LeBron on the court as the elder James serves as the first option in this series, but because of his own production on the floor.