The defending NBA Champions, the Boston Celtics, will host the New York Knicks at TD Garden on the 2024-25 season’s Opening Night on Tuesday. But the NBA community’s attention is fixated on the Lakers’ first home game at Crypto.com Arena against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which will see Bronny James and LeBron James share the floor for the first time in a regular season contest.
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The historic occasion has prompted a massive media spectacle. But all the attention hasn’t been positive.
Ken Griffey Jr. & Ken Griffey Sr will be in attendance for the LA Lakers opening game on Tues night to watch LeBron & Bronny James make their historic father/son debut with Jr saying: “We made history in the #MLB & now we get to watch history in the #NBA” #Lakers #LeBron
— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) October 20, 2024
MLB Insider Jim Bowden reported today that Baseball legends Ken Griffey Sr. and his son, Ken Griffey Jr., will attend the Lakers game to witness history being made live. The Griffeys were the first father-son duo in MLB history to play for the same team back in 1990.
However, fans took this opportunity to point out in no uncertain words the stark disparity between the two father-son duo pairings.
“Bronny doesn’t deserve to be on that roster but we all know who is their GN [GM],” one user wrote in a now-deleted tweet under Bowden’s post. Others chimed in with similar reactions.
Bronny doesn’t deserve to be on that roster but we all know who is their GN
— cincy4life (@Dannypipes711) October 20, 2024
“The difference: Griffey Sr didn’t have to force his son into the league. He earned it on his own and became a legend,” another user pointed out. “Except Bronny James stinks and probably shouldn’t even be in the league,” another fan added.
The difference: Griffey Sr didn’t have to force his son into the league. He earned it on his own and became a legend.
— Papa (@papajohnsdaddy1) October 20, 2024
Similar reactions flowed in as fans kept saying things like “Apples to Oranges,” and “Bronny shouldn’t be anywhere near an NBA roster…”
Bronny shouldn’t be anywhere near an NBA roster…
— peartreefoods (@TimPartridge14) October 20, 2024
To put things into perspective, there’s no denying that the James duo cannot be compared to the Griffeys for a lot of different things. It is now the Lakers’ worst kept secret that the team’s front office drafted Bronny with their 55th overall pick solely to retain LeBron James. Therefore, Bronny and LeBron’s historic debut together has been tarnished with claims that James Jr. doesn’t belong on the LA roster.
Lol he’s making the team?
— Mr. Citywide (@MrCitywide215) October 20, 2024
On the other hand, Kenneth Griffey Jr.’s entry into the MLB was much more organic. He was one of the top baseball prospects of the time and was rightfully drafted first overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 1987 MLB Draft. Griffey Sr. wasn’t a Mariner at the time and didn’t hold the power to influence a first overall pick for his son.
Griffey Jr. proved his mettle in minor leagues before making his MLB debut. He played on the same team with his father for the first time after Griffey Sr. joined the Mariners in 1990.
However, the historic occasion of Bronny’s NBA debut with LeBron James shouldn’t be downplayed by comparisons with their baseball counterparts. We have to remember that the Lakers rookie’s journey to the NBA will also add a new layer to Lebron James’ rich legacy in the league.
So naysayers might discount the significance of Tuesday night’s game. But King James is well aware of the gravity of the occasion as he nears the conclusion of his legendary NBA career.
Bronny shouldn’t be compared to Ken Griffey Jr.
Bronny’s comparison with Griffey Jr. is bound to put too much pressure on the 20-year-old. The former USC guard is nowhere close to the kind of talent the Mariners legend displayed early on.
Griffey Jr. is a Baseball Hall-of-Famer with 13 MLB All-Star appearances. He was the 1997 AL MVP and has 10 Gold Glove awards and seven Silver Slugger awards in his cabinet. The 54-year-old retired as a baseball legend and had a better career than his Hall-of-Famer father. He also had his jersey retired by two MLB teams.
On the other hand, Bronny is quite far from achieving even a tiny share of Griffey Jr.’s accolades. As an undersized guard with poor shooting numbers, the Lakers rookie will be struggling to stay afloat in the league, at least in the first few years of his career.
An All-Star nomination seems like a fairy tale for the 20-year-old, especially considering the growing talent in the NBA. Therefore. Bronny should focus on his development instead of paying heed to all these comparisons. But before that, let the kid enjoy his NBA debut with his dad.
