If LeBron James and his son, Bronny, ever play together in an NBA game, Ken Griffey Jr. wants to be there – along with his dad.
The Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Reds and Moeller High School great said in a video from Sporting News he will take his father, former Big Red Machine star Ken Griffey Sr., to the game.
“When that happens, I’m going to be there. I’m going to take my dad to the game,” Junior said. “We’re actually gonna go to the game. LeBron being a Nike guy. I’m a Nike guy. I’m gonna make sure I’m there at that game. And I think it’s important that we’re all there in celebrating somebody else’s success. … When you’re in sports, you don’t celebrate you. You celebrate other people. And that’s the beauty of sports. And we’re gonna celebrate hopefully in a couple of years LeBron and Bronny playing together.”
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Griffey Jr. and Sr. played together for two seasons in Seattle (1990 and 1991) and became the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs in an MLB game.
James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, has said he would “love” to play with his son in the NBA at some point. James replied to Griffey’s video via Twitter:
One of my favorite people in the world!! Love you kid! Thank you for love and support from the first day I stepped on the scene. https://t.co/otStXgORjZ
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 15, 2022
The Griffeys’ former team, the Reds, were in Los Angeles playing the Dodgers on the 75th anniversary of Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson’s Major League Baseball debut. Junior sought permission in 2007 from Robinson’s widow, Rachel – who was honored before Friday night’s game – to wear No. 42 before the entire league did so to honor Jackie.
Reds first baseman Joey Votto gave his Jackie Robinson Day cleats to a young fan – along with a special message – during the Reds-Dodgers game.
In 2021, James wore his Griffey-inspired LeBron 15 Nike sneakers for the Lakers’ win against the Memphis Grizzlies. MLB.com’s Matt Kelly wrote that the teal-and-black shoes were a throwback tribute to Griffey’s iconic Air Griffey Max 1 model, released by Nike in 1996.