When the Los Angeles Lakers selected 19-year-old Bronny James in the second round of the NBA draft on Thursday night, the team set up an intriguing scenario. Next season, he could play in the same lineup as his father, 39-year-old superstar LeBron James.
While there have been many great father-son combinations in sports history: Bobby and Barry Bonds in baseball; Peter and Kasper Schmeichel in football; Pamela, JaVale and Imani McGee in basketball; They rarely play at the same time, let alone on the same team.
But at least on a few other occasions, the stars have aligned to make it possible.
The eternal Gordie Howe and Sons
Gordie Howe retired from hockey at age 43 after an illustrious career. But when his sons Mark and Marty joined the World Hockey Association’s Houston Aeros three seasons later, he couldn’t resist.
“They knew my biggest desire had always been to play professional hockey with my kids,” he said, “and when they asked me if I would be interested, I said yes.”
His return turned out to be no brief cameo. Remarkably, he played with his sons for seven seasons, moving on to the New England Whalers, who joined the NHL for the 1979-80 season as the Hartford Whalers. Howe Sr. was skating on major league ice by age 51.
He played 80 games with the Whalers in his final season, scoring 15 goals before finally hanging up his skates. “I think I’ve got another half year left,” he said in the announcement.
Mark Howe played until 1995 and, like his father, was elected to the Hall of Fame.
The Griffeys, Junior and Senior
In August 1990, Ken Griffey announced his retirement at age 40. He had finished a great career as a talented hitter, most memorably with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s.
But just days later, he was signed by the Seattle Mariners, who not coincidentally employed his son, 21-year-old budding superstar Ken Griffey Jr.
In his first at-bat with his new team, Griffey Sr. singled, helping him win a bet with his son about who would get the first hit. Griffey Jr. then singled and both players scored. “I wanted to cry,” Griffey Jr. said after the game.
In September of that season, they hit back-to-back home runs against the California Angels.
The Griffeys played together for two seasons before Griffey Sr. retired. Griffey Jr. went on to have a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Another Junior and Senior couple
Late in the 2001 season, the Montreal Expos traded 42-year-old hitting and base-stealing great Tim Raines to the Baltimore Orioles, who had just called up Raines’ 22-year-old son, Tim Jr..
Their time together was brief, just four games before the season ended. The following season, Raines Jr. returned to the minors. Raines Sr. played one more season for the Florida Marlins.
In this case, the father’s career clearly overshadowed that of the son. Raines Sr. entered the Hall of Fame. Raines Jr. played in only 75 career games.
A Panhandle family
Sports historians had to dig deep into history to discover a professional soccer player who played on the same playing field as his father, since 1921, to be exact.
The Columbus Panhandles of the Ohio League had drawn heavily on the Nesser family: brothers Ted, John, Phil, Frank and Fred all played on the team at one time or another.
In 1920, the Panhandles became part of the new American Professional Football Association, and by 1921, Ted Nesser was the player-coach. He was joined on the team not only by several brothers but also by his 19-year-old son, Charles Nesser.
The Columbus Panhandles? Or the American Professional Football Association? Are you thinking, “So what?”
If so, consider that the following year, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League.
The Columbus Panhandles, then called the Columbus Tigers, played their final season in 1926, but Ted and Charles Nesser remain the only father-son duo in the NFL to play on the same team at the same time.
Passing the Icelandic Torch
In 1996, Iceland was playing a friendly match against Estonia in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, when striker Arnor Gudjohnsen was substituted. He was replaced by a talented 17-year-old making his debut for his country: Arnor’s son, Eidur.
Both men were mainstays of the Icelandic national team for years and had good club careers. Arnor played in Belgium, France and elsewhere, while Eidur was best known for his time with Chelsea Football Club in England.
Eidur has three sons who play football, and two of them, Sveinn Aron and Andri, have played for Iceland, although not at the same time as their father.
Iceland only has a population of 380,000 inhabitants.
Not exactly LeBron
LeBron James is arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and some would say the best.
The choice of LeBron James Jr., known as Bronny, was not a surprise. “I will play my last year with my son,” LeBron said in 2022.
But how good will Bronny be? Being selected 55th in the draft is no guarantee of success, or even a job; some players selected in that range don’t even make an NBA team.
Bronny played one season at USC, but started only six times and averaged 4.8 points per game. Pre-draft scouting reports projected him as, at best, a complementary NBA player.
But that probably won’t matter when he takes the court and joins LeBron as part of the first father-son duo to play in the NBA.
And who’s next?
Well, golf isn’t a team sport. But did you know that a certain 15-year-old just qualified for the US Junior Amateur? His name is Charlie. Charlie Woods.
Yeah, that Woods.
