The bulk of sports talk on Tuesday night wasn’t as much about the start of the World Series or NFL player movement, but instead, revolved around LeBron James taking the floor next to his son Bronny during the Los Angeles Lakers opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lakers won 110-103, so people with the team will tell you that’s what mattered. But the James family narrative eclipsed not only the score, but dominated the sporting zeitgeist for the day. LeBron and Bronny made history, the first father-son duo on an NBA court. It was a feel-good moment for some, but it’s now up to Bronny to show he belongs. He went 0-2 in the game and 0-1 from three-point land, with one rebound.

James and Son Make NBA History

Bill Reiter at CBS Sports this morning beautifully summed up his challenges:

It’s hard to ignore the pestering worries that, at best, Bronny is here in the league too soon, shoved to the front of the line by the forces of his father rather than his own talent, and that Tuesday’s debut with dad — and the laudatory coverage sure to follow — will make things harder.”

“Jealousies are real. And if he largely stays in the NBA this season, or spends ample time in the G League, he will be playing against, and sometimes with, those who covet what he has, and resent how he got it.”

Sportsbook traders were focusing on Bronny James as well, along with other facets of NBA Awards futures betting as the season got rolling.

NBA Futures Betting as Season Starts

Over at BetMGM, Bronny (+30000) has generated the highest ticket percentage for a rookie the year at 17%. Zach Edey at +300 leads the handle at 30.1%, with Bronny the biggest liability.

Bronny James winning rookie of the year is the worst NBA awards result right now,” said Halvor Egeland, trading strategy manager, BetMGM. “Ideally, (Canadian) Zach Edey doesn’t win the award either. (Nikola) Jokic winning another MVP (+475) would be great for BetMGM, especially with bettors being all over Anthony Edwards (+1200) to win his first MVP.”

Edwards is generating the highest ticket percentage for MVP at BetMGM at 14.4%, and the highest handle (17.9%).

At PointsBet Canada, a trader told Casino.org: “Most bets are on Luka (Doncic) for MVP but most money is on Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). (Russell) Westbrook has the most bets on the Sixth Man of the Year market, shortly followed by (Donte) DiVincenzo. For Rookie of the Year, as you would expect since he’s 1000-1 (+100000) Bronny has the largest liability by far, but Edey has the most bets and most money (possibly because he’s Canadian and the favorite).”

At BetVictor, traders were, shall we say, a little blunter.

“We have not seen any action on Bronny to be rookie of the year and with his preseason stats despite being the son of ‘The King,’ our punters were not suckered into backing him,” said Glen Hyslop at BetVictor.

“After only playing three minutes in the opening match, I think this will set the tone that he will get limited court time in his first season. We are in the process of revising these markets after the opening two games and we currently make him 300/1 (+30000) to be rookie of the year. Zach Edey from the Grizzlies has been the popular choice, and is the current favorite for the award.”

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