The Los Angeles Lakers have found life without LeBron James to start the 2025-26 season to be smooth-sailing thus far, as they took their fifth win of the season in seven tries with a 130-120 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves weren't quite as dominant on the scoring front, as the team used more of a balanced effort to move to 5-2 on the season.
While there were many good plays to speak of for the Lakers on the night, there might not have been a better play for the Purple and Gold in their win over the Heat than Reaves' incredible lob pass to Bronny James for a monster two-handed throwdown in transition. James was getting legitimate, non-garbage time minutes mostly due to the Lakers' injury woes, but Bronny showed that he belongs on an NBA court with the way he was conducting himself on Sunday night.
After the game, Reaves admitted just how big of a deal it is for him to be the one to throw a lob to Bronny — as this perhaps makes him the first-ever player in NBA history to throw an alley-oop pass to both father and his son.
“I’ve got to be the first person in NBA history to throw a father a lob and a son a lob. It got to be right? While they're still on the same team,” Reaves said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It was cool. I told Bron as soon as I checked out after that, that it was a pretty special moment.”
“I’ve got to be the first person in NBA history to throw a father a lob and a son a lob. … It was a pretty special moment.” Austin Reaves on connecting with Bronny James for an alley-oop dunk tonight vs. MIA. pic.twitter.com/rRtNsGX17r
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 3, 2025
Bronny did not do much on the box score, as his lone two points on the night came on that lob from Reaves. But he did play 18 quality minutes for the Lakers and was an acceptable +1 on the night.
Is Bronny James coming into his own for the Lakers?
It must be very heavy for Bronny to be carrying the James surname considering how historically great his father has been throughout his illustrious NBA career. But it seems like he's carving out a little role for himself on the Lakers, a defensive specialist of sorts who can chase quicker guards around the perimeter.
With the Lakers still missing a few key pieces (Gabe Vincent, for example, is going to miss multiple weeks with an ankle injury), Bronny has a chance to carve out a bigger role for himself in head coach JJ Redick's rotation.
