LeBron and Bronny James made history last night, becoming the first father-son duo to appear in an NBA regular season game.
Bronny played three minutes in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 110-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, missing both of his shot attempts and grabbing one offensive rebound. LeBron, meanwhile, scored 16 points, pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists. The two checked into the game together in the first half, a moment many NBA fans couldn’t help but enjoy.
Chris Russo wasn’t feeling it though. First Take‘s resident curmudgeon downplayed the meaning of Bronny’s NBA debut during Wednesday morning’s show.
“This might be fun for LeBron. Nobody in America cares that Bronny James played three minutes and grabbed one rebound at 11 o’clock at night in the opener and this is supposed to be a moment that America is gonna resonate with?” Russo asked. “I’m being serious now, and I love the kid.”
Host Molly Qerim tried to argue about the significance of Tuesday night, but Russo still wasn’t having it.
“Can I ask you a question? If LeBron James was not the second-greatest player in the history of basketball, would this still be a story?” Russo asked. “You can make the argument that the Lakers got Bronny to begin with, as Windy [Brian Windhorst] just said, to energize LeBron.”
“Sorry folks, I ain’t buying it,” Russo added. “You guys can go crazy, call me anything you want, I can’t get into it.”
The Lakers’ next game is this Friday against Phoenix. We wouldn’t anticipate Bronny being part of the rotation, as he only played three minutes last night and the team seems to have settled on nine men to play critical minutes.
Related: LeBron James, Bronny Made NBA History On Tuesday Night