By BRUCE LOWITT
LeBron James vowed Wednesday to “never again step on the same court with that incompetent, ball-hogging son of mine” after 20-year-old Bronny James repeatedly ignored his father’s shouts to “pass me the fucking ball” during the Los Angeles Lakers’ season-opening game Tuesday night.
Although he scored 16 points while playing 34½ minutes in the Lakers’ 110-103 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves before a sold-out crowd at Crypto.com Arena, the 39-year-old LeBron said he was “pissed that my kid ruined the moment” in which they became the first father-son duo to play in an NBA game.
Bronny checked into the game with about four minutes remaining in the second quarter, missed his only two shots – one of them a three-point attempt – and had one offensive rebound before checking out after two-and-a-half minutes.
“Wow!” his father said sarcastically. “That’s worth framing and putting up on the wall. … Did you notice how many assists he had? None. Not one. I’m wide open and begging for the ball and, I don’t know, he’s looking for movie stars in the stands. Meanwhile, A.D. (teammate Anthony Davis) is pumping in 36 points.
“I’m the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. I’m a record 20-time NBA All-Star, a four-time league MVP, a four-time Finals MVP. I was playing in this league before my kid was born. If he didn’t have my name he wouldn’t have been anywhere near the court last night unless he’d bought a ticket.”
Bronny, who averaged 4.8 points per game as a Southern Cal freshman, his only college season, was drafted 55th by the Lakers after his agent reportedly threatened that the kid would play in Australia if any other NBA team picked him.
“Going to Australia wouldn’t have been the worst thing,” the Lakers’ JJ Redick said after his first game as a head coach anywhere. “I mean, we’d have sold out the building anyway, and it’s obvious Bronny has a lot to learn about playing basketball – like dribbling, shooting, rebounding and especially passing.
“If I’m going to last more than one season as head coach,” Redick added, “what I don’t need around here is babysitting a marginally talented rookie and, even worse, his pissed-off father.”
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