Bronny and LeBron James show brings extra buzz to MSG

After LeBron James dominated the Knicks and Madison Square Garden again Saturday night in a 128-112 Lakers win, much of the talk surrounded his son, Bronny, who scored his first points at MSG as an NBA player.

That didn’t last long, as hours after the game, multiple outlets reported the Lakers’ involvement in a huge trade, as they shipped Anthony Davis to Dallas in exchange for a package headlined by Luka Doncic.
Earlier in the night, James had called Davis the Lakers’ “best player.”

No more.

And what has been a season that’s been a lot about the 40-year-old James playing with his 20-year-old son after the Lakers drafted him in the second round last year, it is now about much more with streaking Los Angeles making a huge move.

How it impacts the Lakers and the rest of the Western Conference remains to be seen, but it will certainly make things interesting.

They were already plenty entertaining on Saturday, as James scored a game-high 33 points and then was subbed out late in the fourth quarter by Bronny.

“It’s always special to come into this building,’’ James said after the win. “It’s the Mecca of basketball [and] probably the greatest basketball arena in the world.”

James has made clear his affection for the Garden throughout the course of his career, but at 40 and, one would think, in the twilight of his career, this night was different.

The sellout Garden crowd chanted “We want Bronny” throughout the fourth quarter, as the Lakers put the game away.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick acquiesced, much to the delight of the Garden crowd — and James.

“I missed a lot of Bronny’s points because of my career, over the course of his childhood and AAU and high school,’’ James said of his 20-year-old son. “To see all the buckets he had as an NBA player is pretty special. It’s probably the greatest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

Saturday was the younger James’ 15th game with the Lakers, as he’s split time between Los Angeles and their G-League affiliate.

“It’s great to get some NBA experience,” James said of his son. “He’ll continue to develop and go back and forth with the G [League]. It’s all about the process. He doesn’t mind it. Any moment he can have in his career that I’m here is pretty special.”

And it’s coming on a team that’s now won six of its past seven games as it moves up the standings in the Western Conference.

So while the Knicks saw their five-game winning streak come to an end, the Garden faithful still managed to get a pretty good show.

“The fans here have always treated me with respect and I always try to give it back to them,’’ James said. “I understand the history of this building. I’ve been a part of Madison Square Garden for 20-plus years. … It’s great to get a good quality win against a great team. The Knicks are a great team.”