If Bronny James plays for the Los Angeles Lakers alongside his father LeBron, they’ll be the NBA’s first father-son teammates (Photo by Eleven Warriors. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).
When the Los Angeles Lakers were opting to select 19-year-old Bronny James in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, it was a move that positioned the Lakers to be making NBA history.
Generally, it’s not difficult for the Lakers to be front-page news. For many years, the scourge of the NBA, the Lakers were always getting short odds to win the league championship at the leading online betting sites.
This time around, the odds of the Lakers making NBA history during the 2024-25 season will have much more to do with genetics than being a generational team. That’s because already on their squad is the King himself, LeBron James, Bronny’s 39-year-old father.
The moment that Bronny and LeBron touch the floor together, they’ll be making NBA history as the Association’s first father-son teammates. But they certainly won’t be the first father-son teammates in pro sports history. Surprisingly, that group can already form a fairly lengthy list of accomplishments.
The Howes
When Gordie Howe retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 1971, he’d already assembled an unparalleled NHL career. Playing 25 NHL seasons, he started as a teen and was still going strong into his 40s. Howe left the game as hockey’s all-time scoring leader.
Two years after departing the ice in the NHL, Howe made the stunning announcement that he was coming out of retirement to play for the WHA’s Houston Aeros. Not only that, he’d be suiting up alongside his sons Mark and Marty.
During that 1973-74 WHA season, the elder Howe, known as Mr. Hockey, would lead Houston to the Avco Cup title and was named MVP. He played seven seasons alongside his sons, returning to the NHL with them for the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80 when the WHA and NHL merged. Fittingly, Howe would start a game at Detroit against the Red Wings centering a line between his two sons.
The Griffeys
Following a stellar career in which he won two World Series, outfielder Ken Griffey Sr. announced his retirement from the Cincinnati Reds late in the 1990 MLB season. But just days later, the Seattle Mariners would get the elder Griffey to join their club, where he’d be teaming up with his son, future Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.
They were the first father-son tandem to be teammates in MLB history. The Griffeys played two seasons together in Seattle. During a game against the California Angels, they would hit back-to-back home runs.
The Raines
A decade after the Griffeys, late in the 2001 MLB season the Montreal Expos would trade veteran former all-star outfielder Tim Raines, 42, to the Baltimore Orioles. At the same time, the Orioles were calling up his son Tim Raines Jr., 22, from the minor leagues.
Their family reunion would be brief. The two Raines would play only four games as teammates. The following season, Tim Raines Jr. was back in the minor leagues. He’d play just 75 games in the show.
Meanwhile, Tim Raines Sr. would move on to the Florida Marlins to play the farewell MLB campaign of his Hall of Fame career in 2002.
The Nessers
Maybe you’ve never heard of the Columbus Panhandles. And it’s entirely possible that you know nothing about the American Professional Football Association (APFA).
During the 1921 APFA season, Ted Nesser was player-coach of the Panhandles. His roster also included his brothersJohn, Phil, Frank and Fred. Frank was the fullback, while Ted was at center, John was a guard-tackle, Phil was a guard-tackle-wingback and Fred played left tackle.
At tailback that season was a rookie, Ted’s 19-year-old son Charlie Nesser. Ted and Charlie Nesser are the only father-son combination to play together in a major pro football league.
Oh, and as for the APFA, eventually it would be renamed the National Football League. You might’ve heard of it.
The Rybars
In the final game of the 2010-11 hockey season for the Slovak Extraliga, the coaching staff of Slovan Bratislava decided to give goaltender Pavol Rybar a fitting send off. The former Slovakian Olympic netminder was retiring at season’s end. As part of a tribute to him, they decided to suit up his 17-year-old son Patrik Rybar as backup goalie for Pavol’s farewell match.
Little did Patrik know that his father had a surprise in store for him. With seven minutes to go, Pavol had a shutout going. Regardless, he skated to the bench and turned the net over to his startled teenage son.
Patrik stepped between the pipes and held the fort for those final seven minutes, though he was only called upon to make two saves. Pavol and Patrik Rybar became the only father-son duo to post a shared shutout in pro hockey history.
In 2022, Patrik would follow in his father’s footsteps by playing goal for Slovakia at the Winter Olympics. He would backstop the Slovaks to a 4-0 shutout of Sweden in the bronze medal game.
The Gudjohnsens
Eidur Gudjohnsen playing for Spanish club Barcelona (Photo by Shay. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license).
Iceland was away to Estonia in 1996, playing a friendly international soccer match in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn.
During the match, veteran Iceland striker Arnor Gudjohnsen was subbed out of the match. Coming in as his replacement on the pitch was none other than his 17-year-old son Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Both father and son would enjoy long international careers representing their homeland, Arnor, who played professionally in France and Belgium, earned 73 international caps. Eidur, best known for his time with Chelsea of the English Premier League and Barcelona of Spain’s La Liga, was capped 88 times.
Eidur’s sons Sveinn Aron and Andri have both also gone on to represent Iceland on the international soccer stage, though never in the same side as their father.
