LeBron James Says His Son Bronny Won’t Be Allowed To Call Him “Dad” While Playing Together For The Los Angeles Lakers

You can call LeBron James whatever you want, just don't call him late for dinner - or "Dad" if you happen to be Bronny James. In case you forgot, this upcoming NBA season will be quite the spectacle for the Los Angeles Lakers. The "Lakeshow" drafted Bronny James, LeBron James' son, in the 2024 NBA Draft, and they'll become the first father-son duo to play together in the NBA on the same team at the same time. That is... as long as Bronny manages to secure a roster spot. If he does, there are obviously some questions that are on the minds of NBA fans. First and foremost, how does a father and son relationship in the same locker room work? In a preview for a special episode of LeBron James' talk show The Shop , James was asked that very important question by one of his co-hosts: "What's your working relationship? Is he going to call you 'Dad' at practice or in the locker room?" Great question. LeBron made sure to set the record straight on this one, and said that he and Bronny will keep things professional if they are to share the locker room or the floor, and that his son already has a couple of alternative names to call his father: "No, he can't. We already laid that down. Cannot call me 'Dad' in the workplace. Once we leave out of the practice facility and the gates close, I could be 'Dad' again. In the car if we ride together, at home, I can be 'Dad.' He's got to call me '23' or 'Bron' or 'G.O.A.T.' if he wants to. That's up to him." I still can't really wrap my head around how unique of a situation this is for LeBron and Bronny. But it sounds like they'll just be teammates when they are doing anything together that's associated with the Los Angeles Lakers. And on the flip side of things, LeBron insists that avoiding the word "son" won't be a problem for him: "It's easy for me because I've been calling him 'Bronny' for so long. It's not like I've been calling him, 'Hey son.' So it's easy for me. It's going to be an adjustment for him. But he... we cannot be running down the court and he be like, 'Dad, I'm open. Dad, come on!' No, you cannot do that." I'd like to see the betting odds of that happening though. And I'm not a betting expert, but my gut is telling me that if there was a line set, I'd take the over 0.5 times Bronny calls LeBron "Dad" during a game. It has to slip out on accident at some point. The full episode of The Shop that this interview was clipped from will release on August 29th: https://twitter.com/TheShopUN/status/1828521535457632414