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LeBron James and Bronny James became the first father and son to play in the NBA together Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Lakers ' season opener. LeBron and Bronny checked into the game together with four minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a big ovation from a home crowd aware of the enormity of the milestone. The 39-year-old LeBron had already started the game and played 13 minutes before he teamed up with his 20-year-old son to make history. LeBron James is the top scorer in NBA history, while LeBron James Jr. was a second-round pick by the Lakers last summer. They are the first father and son to play in the world's top basketball league at the same time, let alone on the same team. Y'all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though, father told son on the bench before they checked in, an exchange captured by the TNT cameras and microphones. Don't worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard. LeBron and Bronny played 2 1/2 minutes on court ..
Novak Djokovic was named the Best Balkan Athlete of the year on Monday for a record eighth time, ahead of NBA star Nikola Jokic. The 36-year-old Djokovic won three Grand Slam titles in 2023 to take his record tally to 24, while Jokic was named the NBA Finals MVP after leading the Denver Nuggets to the title. Both are from Serbia. The results of the annual poll were published by the Bulgarian News Agency. A total of 58 athletes received votes in the poll this year, with Bulgarian basketball player Alexandar Vezenkov coming third. Long jumpers Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece and Ivana Spanovic of Serbia, who won the men's and women's world championship titles last year, were fourth and fifth, respectively. This was the 50th anniversary edition of the Balkan poll, which is traditionally conducted by the national news agencies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. This year, organizers also expanded the vote to .
Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams as a player and LeBron James' first coach in the league, has died, his family announced Sunday. He was 79. The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas' son, Stephen, is a second-generation head coach. The Boston Globe first reported Silas' death, and no official cause was immediately announced. Our heartfelt thoughts are with Stephen and his family during this difficult time, the Rockets said in a statement. Paul Silas began his career as a head coach with a three-year stint leading the then-San Diego Clippers starting in 1980. After spending more than a decade as an assistant, he returned to being a head coach and spent time with the Charlotte Hornets, the New Orleans Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Charlotte Bobcats. He took four of those teams to the playoffs, winning exactly 400 games 387 in the regular season, 13 more in the postseason. Paul made a huge contribution to the game of .
Former US President Barack Obama has bought a stake in the NBA's Africa business through his foundation, the NBA said Tuesday. Obama will have a minority equity stake in NBA Africa, a new entity set up this year to run all the league's business on the continent. The NBA said Obama would use any profits to fund the Obama Foundation's youth and leadership programs in Africa. Obama has been linked to the NBA's Africa operations since 2019, although it wasn't clear until Tuesday exactly what his involvement would be. NBA Africa and world body FIBA combined to set up the first pro basketball league in Africa. The Basketball Africa League held its inaugural season in May after being delayed for a year by the coronavirus pandemic. It featured the top teams from 12 African countries.