Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has a lot of pregame rituals that occur long before tipoff. Whether it’s arriving to the arena early for treatment and a floor check, his infamous chalk toss, or his pregame layup line routine with his teammates, those moments have always belonged to LeBron.
But on Tuesday night at LA’s Crypto.com Arena, with the 41-year-old icon resting on the second night of a back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs, his son Bronny James stepped up in place of his father.
As part of his pregame routine, once the team is finished with their layup lines, LeBron likes to launch the basketball high into the air from the corner of the court and catch it off a bounce. As he catches it, his teammates all gather around him and squat down simultaneously and then jog backward. The celebration unfolding in rhythm as if nothing has changed.
However, on Tuesday, with LeBron James out of the lineup, Bronny James took over his pregame responsibilities.
A fan in the stands recorded a video of the younger James leading the ritual on Tuesday night.
This wasn’t about superstition. It was about succession.
LeBron James has long been the gravitational force of the Lakers’ pregame identity, the all-time leading scorer turning routine into theater. Bronny James didn’t copy the powder toss — that remains his father’s signature, untouchable and iconic — but he claimed the moment in his own way. Unbothered by the weight of the name stitched across his back.
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