Family business: Playing professional sport with a parent can cast a big shadow | Emma John

LThe shadow of eBron James is a big shadow that anyone can step into. Earlier this year, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer topped 40,000 points and played in a record 20th All-Star Game. On Tuesday, the 39-year-old recorded another first: he played in the NBA together with his son. Which means that Bronny James has also achieved something unique in the history of basketball. Not bad for a 20-year-old rookie who has played three minutes in the major leagues against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The occasion was hyped to the hilt – Nike created a bespoke advert in which LeBron supposedly flustered his new teammate – and yes, it was a sentimental moment, not least because Bronny went into cardiac arrest during training last year . But it was also a piece of technology that was years in the making. The Lakers star had made it perfectly clear when his son was still playing in high school what he wanted and what he expected his employers to do about it. “My senior year will be played with my son,” James said in 2022. “Wherever Bronny is, that’s where I’ll be.”

In June this year, the Lakers dutifully obliged, picking Bronny in the second round of the draft on a four-year $7.9 million (£6.1 million) contract. It is, as some have noted, a lot of money for someone with an incomplete educational history. And yet few begrudge the couple their moment. After all, the sight of any kid wanting to hang out with their parents and play a game is pretty sweet. Bronny may be over six feet tall, but he’s still eight inches shorter than his old man.

Watching from the stands were two baseball greats who knew exactly what it felt like. Ken Griffey was 40 when he was released by the Cincinnati Reds midway through the 1990 season. Days later, the Seattle Mariners offered him a spot in their squad, alongside 20-year-old Ken Griffey Jr.

That father and son duo eventually played together for one more season in 1991. But even they were outdone by hockey player Gordie Howe, who retired at age 45 to play with his sons Mark and Marty for the Houston Aeros: Howe skated in the family business for seven more winters.

We’re used to mothers and fathers sharing their talent in the gene pool, whether it’s Liz and Eilish McColgan, Jos and Max Verstappen or Peter and Kasper Schmeichel. It doesn’t always work out for the kids, but when it does, it makes sense – a combination of athletic DNA and a supportive sports upbringing, not to mention the role model effect.

Sports dynasties rarely overlap on the playing field for sound scientific reasons, the sciences being biology and mathematics. Andy Farrell was just 16 years old when his son Owen was born, and even they never shared a pitch as professionals, despite both being on the Saracens books in 2008. The only time they played in the same match, Owen was used due to an injury. replacement for his father.

And while professional football offers plenty of examples of fathers coaching their sons (we’re looking at you, Steve Bruce) and even commentating on them (Ian Wright), there aren’t many who have had a playing career long enough to make a difference. to make a career as a footballer. onto the grass with them. When an injury crisis at Hereford forced manager Ian Bowyer to lace up his boots in 1990, he and Gary Bowyer became the first father and son to play in the league since Alec and David Herd left for Stockport in 1951.

Hereford trailed 3-1 against Scunthorpe with five minutes to play, but came back to draw 3-3. It was Gary who secured the draw in the final moments with the equalizer. Ian was annoyed that his son had made the mistake on the first goal (“I think he was the only one who didn’t come to congratulate me,” Gary recalled), but he was still proud enough of his son to let him leave . Nottingham Forest at the end of the season. The Hereford board immediately fired him.

There are sports that lend themselves better to intergenerational competition. Mary King is one of the equestrian greats who have to compete with their own offspring. In her 50s, when she was world No. 1 in eventing, the Olympian still refused to give an inch to her teenage daughter Emily. “She wants to hit me,” Mary said, “but I won’t let that happen.”

The early days of first-class cricket, when standards of fielding and fitness were not so strict, were full of family matches, from the Lillywhite clan to WG and his sons. In more recent years, Denis Streak helped his son Heath win a Zimbabwean domestic title despite being off the circuit for more than a decade. And yet golf has seen surprisingly few fathers and sons compete for top honors, despite the game’s founding legend, old and young Tom Morris. Can the nepo baby era change that? Tiger Woods caddies for his son Charlie and already plays with him in the PNC Championship.

But if you want a truly heartwarming story, Bianca and Cyra Webb will represent England at the Japan Karate Association World Championships in Takasaki this weekend. Bianca, 42, has been training for years with her 17-year-old daughter Cyra. They were selected to participate in the 2020 event, but it was canceled due to the pandemic.

It will be Bianca’s last international ever – and Cyra’s first. Luckily, they don’t compete in the same category, so there’s no chance of one knocking out the other.