Metta Sandiford-Artest says LeBron deserves to play with Bronny after being with Savannah for so many years

No father-son duo had ever shared the floor in an NBA game until LeBron James and his son Bronny made history by doing so with the Los Angeles Lakers this season.

The younger James’ mother is none other than the elder James’ high school sweetheart and longtime wife Savannah. Savannah James and LeBron James have been married since September of 2013 and have been romantically involved since 2002, when they were both in high school.

Former NBA pro Metta Sandiford-Artest won a title in the year 2010 while playing for the Lakers franchise, and he thinks that LeBron James is deserving of the opportunity to play alongside his son at the highest level after being such a good role model for so long with regard to family values.

“Actually, Bron deserves it,” Artest said. “LeBron deserves — he worked hard. LeBron worked hard enough. I understand what people are sayin’, but when you look at somebody like LeBron, who is still married to the same girl that he’s been with since high school, that has to have some type of significance at some point in time.

“We talk about family values, well, it’s right in front of your face, and people are not takin’ advantage of the message. You got a guy like LeBron that’s been with his significant other since high school — that’s the message.

“Yeah, that’s what we want (family values), right? We want the role models, so now you have it, and now you don’t want it, right? So it’s like, I think people should just enjoy it, and you know what? It’s only one person that could be that good where they could demand that they play with they son. We don’t know what that feels like because we don’t run as fast as LeBron.”

While it’s an incredible accomplishment that LeBron James has lasted in the NBA long enough to share the court with his son, the amount of playing time — or lack thereof — that Bronny James has seen so far this season implies that he won’t have a large role with Los Angeles in his maiden season in the pros.

Bronny James has played in less than half of Los Angeles’ 13 regular-season games to this point, and he’s also averaging just 2.7 minutes of playing time per contest. He has yet to log double digits in minutes played in a single game for the Purple and Gold since the start of the campaign.

The last time he scored a point in the NBA was almost two weeks ago. In Los Angeles’ loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 6, Bronny James finished with two points, with both of his points coming from the charity stripe.

But Bronny James likely has his focus turned to the G League at the moment, as he will suit up in the South Bay Lakers’ contest versus the Stockton Kings on Sunday night. He will try to redeem himself after what was an underwhelming G League debut against the Salt Lake City Stars back on Nov. 9. The 20-year-old scored just six points and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.