” I'll play my last season with Bronny. Wherever Bronny is, that's where I'll be. I'll do whatever it takes to play one year with my son. It won't be about money at that point. ” This is what LeBron James said in February 2022, leaving no room for doubt.
More than two years after this statement, the wish of the “King” materialized with the drafting of Bronny by the Lakers. Father and son on the same team, something never seen before in the NBA. But not in the history of sports in the broad sense, and in particular in the American major leagues. Here are some illustrious examples.
- Gordie Howe and his sons Mark and Marty (NHL)
On March 12, 1980, in the Hartford Whalers jersey, Gordie Howe started in the center position with his sons Mark and Marty on the wings, in a game against the Red Wings. The father was then… 50 years old.
This NHL meeting is the culmination of a family epic that began a few years earlier. Gordie Howe had in fact retired at the age of 43 after an immense career (21 times All-Star!), which began in… 1946 at the age of 18.
But when his sons Mark and Marty joined the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association three seasons later, he couldn't resist. They knew that my biggest wish had always been to play professional hockey with my sons. And when they asked me if I would be interested, I said, 'Of course I would.' », remembers the Hall of Famer.
The latter, who had only known the Detroit franchise in the NHL, returned to the biggest hockey league to play 80 more games. He scored 15 goals during the 1979-1980 season before retiring at the age of 52. His son Mark played until 1995 and, like his father, was elected to the Hall of Fame.
- Tim Raines and Tim Raines Jr. (MLB)
Late in the 2001 season, the Montreal Expos traded Tim Raines, 42, to the Baltimore Orioles, where his son, Tim Jr., 22, had just arrived in major league baseball. The two men would play only four games together before the end of the season.
The following season, Tim Raines Jr. was back in the minor leagues, while his father finished his Hall of Fame career with one more season for the Florida Marlins.
- Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. (MLB)
Until now, the sons had arrived in a league where their father had shone enough to reach the Hall of Fame. With the Griffeys, it was the opposite way. In 1987, Ken Griffey Jr. was chosen first overall in the Draft by the Seattle Mariners and two years later joined a baseball league where his father was already playing.
The latter had been drafted almost twenty years earlier in the… 29th round of selection in 1969. An All-Star in his first season, “Junior” saw his father, then aged 40, cut by the Cincinnati Reds in 1990.
Five days later, after announcing his retirement, Ken Griffey Sr. finally signed with the Mariners, forming the first father-son duo to play together in major league baseball. On September 14, 1990, the two men even hit back-to-back home runs against the Los Angeles Angels.
The son would go on to far surpass his father's career (three times All-Star) by winning an MVP title, 13 All-Star selections and a place in the Hall of Fame.
- Ted and Charles Nesser (NFL)
We have to go back much further in time for this family story. Nearly a hundred years earlier. The Columbus Panhandles team of the Ohio League made extensive use of the Nesser family at the time: brothers Ted, John, Phil, Frank and Fred all played on the team at one time or another.
In 1920, the Panhandles joined the new American Professional Football Association, and the following year, Ted Nesser became the team's player-coach. He was joined on the team not only by several of his brothers, but also by his 19-year-old son, Charles Nesser.
It was here, again a year later, that the league changed its name to the National Football League as it is known today. The Panhandles, renamed the Columbus Tigers, played their final season in 1926, but Ted and Charles Nesser remain the only father-son duo in the NFL to have played on the same team at the same time.
Then there is the family's reputation. In the words of legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne: ” Getting hit by a Nesser is like falling off a moving train. »
- Arnor Gudjohnsen and Eidur (football)
In 1996, Iceland were playing a friendly against Estonia in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, when striker Arnor Gudjohnsen was substituted. By whom? A talented 17-year-old making his debut for his country: Arnor's son Eidur.
The two men have never technically played together but they have been successive pillars of the Icelandic team for years and have had great club careers. Arnor has played in Belgium, France and elsewhere, while Eidur has mainly made a name for himself through his time at Chelsea and then FC Barcelona.
Still in football, Rivaldo and his son Rivaldinho also played together at Mogi Mirim Esporte Club. It was between 2013 and 2015 when the father, at the end of his career (and president of the club) and aged 40, joined his 20-year-old son at the Brazilian second division club. They both scored in the same match, on July 14, 2015, against Macaé.
Still in football, Henrik Larsson he took a game out of retirement so he could share a few minutes on the pitch with his son, Jordanat a meeting in Högaborg, Sweden.
In rugby, Andy Farrell and his son Owen were team-mates at Saracens during the father's final campaign in 2008/09. Unfortunately, they never played together on the pitch, with the 17-year-old only able to replace his father in a game when Andy was injured.
