Some of basketball’s biggest stars took the floor to kick off the 2024-25 NBA season on Tuesday night.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Anthony Edwards all basked in the limelight for their respective teams during Tuesday night’s doubleheader.
All six fancied themselves supernovas in the NBA galaxy. And yet, it can be argued that a rookie second-rounder drummed up more intrigue than any of them across the opening 48 minutes of the year.
Bronny James made his regular-season debut alongside his father LeBron on Tuesday. The 20-year-old Bronny entered the contest alongside his pops, taking the floor with four minutes left in the second quarter. He didn’t offer much on the stat sheet across his three minutes of game time — James recorded one offensive rebound and missed two sH๏τs, one of which came on a feed from his father.
The Lakers walked out victors, vanquishing Minnesota, 110-103. Davis was the standout figure, racking up totals of 36 points and 16 rebounds. Bronny was the biggest storyline, however. Following the contest, he and his father spoke with TNT’s Taylor Rooks to describe the feeling of finally sharing the court in a regular season game.
“I’m just extremely grateful for everything,” James said. “I was given an amazing opportunity to come in this league and get better every day and learn every day. So yeah, I’m just extremely grateful.”
The Sporting News tracked James’ maiden showing in regular season action on Tuesday. Below are stats and highlights as Bronny finally made his big-league debut with the world watching.
Bronny James stats vs. Timberwolves
- Minutes: 3
- Points: 0
- Rebounds: 1
- ᴀssists: 0
- Steals: 0
- Blocks: 0
- Turnovers: 0
- FGs: 0-2
- 3Ps: 0-1
Lakers vs. Timberwolves score
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final | |
| Lakers | 22 | 33 | 27 | 28 | 110 |
| Timberwolves | 23 | 19 | 32 | 27 | 103 |
MORE: Is Bronny James playing tonight for Lakers?
Lakers vs. Timberwolves updates, results, highlights from 2024 NBA season opener
(All times Eastern)
Final score: Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
12:30 a.m.: With under 30 seconds remaining, the Lakers lead 110-101. Timeout Timberwolves
By all intents and purposes, this one is a wrap. LeBron James will get the first opening-night win of his Lakers career and he’ll do so alongside his son, who gets a big win in his first-ever NBA game.
12:18 a.m.: After the Wolves clawed back, the Lakers have responded.
After two free throws from Anthony Davis, LA leads by 11 points with 5:31 remaining in regulation. Both LeBron and Bronny James are on the bench as Davis takes over for the team.
He’s up to 30 points and 14 rebounds.
12:01 a.m.: LeBron James has entered double figures with 11 points in the game but Minnesota continues to chip away, cutting the deficit to three points with over 10 minutes to play.
Bronny James remains sidelined, and we may have seen the last of him as the Wolves are clawing back.
End of third quarter: Lakers 82, Timberwolves 74
11:57 p.m.: While Bronny sat throughout the third quarter, LeBron remains in single-digit scoring with eight points so far. The Lakers will take their lead into the fourth quarter, though.
11:42 p.m.: Bronny has yet to play in the second half, but the Lakers continue to hold onto a double-digit lead.
End of first half: Lakers 55, Timberwolves 42
11:06 p.m.: Some words of encouragement from LeBron toward his son prior to Bronny’s entry into the game.
11:02 p.m.: James ends his cameo with a strong contest of Anthony Edwards’ jumper. He’ll exit the game to a warm applause. Will be interesting to see if he gets any more game time tonight.
11:01 p.m.: James misfires on a three-point attempt! Jumper looked fairly smooth there. The ball rolled off the front iron before dropping harmlessly to the canvas.
11:00 p.m.: James makes it out of the inside-four minute timeout
10:56 p.m.: James’ first few moments of NBA ball saw him unsuccessfully contest a Julius Randle jumper as well as attempt a tip-in (which was subsequently swatted away by Gobert). He also fielded a pᴀss from his father, who proceeded to set him a screen before receiving the ball back.
10:55 p.m.: And here comes Bronny! He’s heading into the game now! And he’s being escorted into it by his father!
10:51 p.m.: Los Angeles has opened up the floodgates as of late, dropping a 17-2 run to push itself out in front in a big way. The Lakers lead currently sits at 16 with four minutes left.
10:46 p.m.: Another television timeout goes pᴀssing. And still, no James to be seen. On the other hand, Dalton Knecht started his big league career with a flourish, sinking a triple from the top of the key to push Los Angeles’ advantage to eight.
10:38 p.m.: James has yet to receive any PT through the first two minutes of the second quarter. Reminder: Windhorst said he could get his sH๏τ at the start of the second.
End of first quarter: Timberwolves 23, Lakers 22
10:33 p.m.: Seems like the fans are letting it be known who they’d like to see:
10:30 p.m.: With two minutes left in the first quarter, James has yet to enter the game.
10:15 p.m.: James remains firmly fixed in his seat through the first five minutes of the contest. He’s had a front-row seat to all the mayhem that’s unfolded, including his father’s fast break jam and Rui Hachimura baptizing Rudy Gobert with a one-handed dunk.
10:08 p.m.: The ball is tipped off! And the Lakers’ 2024 season is underway!
10:00 p.m.: Some more pregame sH๏τs of Bronny and Bron sharing the floor with one another.
9:55 p.m.: The Griffeys are in attendance. The James duo has a chance to become one of precious few father-son combos to share the floor with one another in a professional atmosphere. Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. can relate.
Bron & Bronny join the Griffeys to become the second-ever father-son duo to play on the same professional sports team. pic.twitter.com/C4jiMBek0T
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 23, 2024
9:30 p.m.: More footage of James preparing for his maiden regular season game.
9:10 p.m.: James has an entourage with him for tonight’s contest. Seems like his FaZe Clan mates have made the trek to Crypto.com Arena to root on their boy.
8:45 p.m.: It looks like Bronny will get a chance to make his mark tonight. According to KCAL 9’s Darren Haynes, James will make his on-court debut against the Timberwolves. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst previously reported that James could get some burn at the start of the second quarter. We’ll see if his prediction comes true.
8:30 p.m.: The Lakers are out on the floor for pre-game warmups. For James, that means leaping towards the rafters to finish inside the paint.
8:20 p.m.: Bronny is in the building. T-minus 100 minutes until tip-off.
8:00 p.m: Nike’s latest spot gives us a window into Bronny James and LeBron James’ working relationship. Expect hijinks to continue in the days, weeks and months to come.
Lakers vs. Timberwolves start time
- Date: Friday, Oct. 4
- Time: 10:30 p.m. ET | 7:30 p.m. PT
The Lakers and Timberwolves will take the floor for preseason action at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. on Oct. 4 at 10:30 p.m. ET, which is 7:30 p.m. local time.
How to watch Lakers vs. Timberwolves
- TV channel: TNT
- Live stream: Sling
Tuesday’s duel between the Lakers and Timberwolves will be aired on TNT.
The game can also be watched on Sling.
