Magic Johnson Leaves No Doubt About His Opinion of LeBron and Bronny James

LeBron James and his eldest son, Bronny, finally took their first official photo as Los Angeles Lakers teammates during media day on Monday.

LeBron, who will turn 40 in December, was lost for words.

"Just pure joy, man," the Lakers superstar said, per Reuters . "I don't have any words. I can speak about me. You guys ask me questions about me. When it comes to him, I'm just at a loss for words.

"Just super proud. Super proud of him to get to this point. He's a man. He's ready to go."

The Lakers' Hall-of-Fame legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson left no doubt in his mind how special this father-and-son moment is for the James family.

"What a great and awesome moment for LeBron and Bronny, becoming the first father-son duo to play in the league," Johnson tweeted as a reaction to the father-and-son photo shared by the Lakers on their official X account. "As a former Laker, I love seeing historical moments happening in the purple and gold!"

Johnson, who led the "Showtime Lakers" to five NBA championships in the 1980s, played a pivotal role in luring LeBron to join the Lakers in 2018. Johnson was the team's president of basketball operations at the time.

Six years later, the Lakers have LeBron's son as well.

Bronny, the 55th overall pick of this year's NBA draft, is grateful for this opportunity amid the nepotism criticisms he received.

"This is a crazy feeling," Bronny James said, per Reuters. "Just looking over at my dad taking pictures, it was like, ‘What's going on right now?' (That was) literally my thoughts. Just kind of take it all in. Extremely grateful for the opportunity."

While Johnson loves the history part of the LeBron and Bronny tandem, the NBA legend does not think Bronny is ready for the pro game after his lackluster one-and-done season at USC.

"If I'm Bronny, I would tell my dad just let me play in the G League all season so that I can develop," Johnson said at "Jimmy Kimmer Live" on Friday. "He needs playing time. He doesn't need to be sitting on the Lakers bench and not playing."

"That's not a knock against him. He's just not ready. He needs to develop more, and then he will be ready because he has some great talent and skills. But he needs to develop those skills at a much better clip if he wants to play 15, 20 minutes a night in the NBA or more."

Related: Bronny James Reveals What He Will 'Definitely Not' Do With LeBron James