The NBA’s regular season delivered a one-of-a-kind milestone this week, as 19-year-old Bronny James recorded the first son-to-father assist in league history, finding his 41-year-old father LeBron James for an easy breakaway dunk during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 119-103 victory over Pacific Division rival Golden State Warriors. The historic play marked the second time the father-son duo have made NBA history in the span of a month: just four weeks prior, LeBron notched the first father-to-son assist against the Brooklyn Nets, cementing their place as the first parent-child pairing to share the court in NBA history.
In the Warriors game, LeBron turned his 26 points into a dominant offensive performance, adding 11 assists to lead the Lakers to a critical late-season win. Young Bronny held his own against the playoff-bound Warriors, putting up 10 points and three assists of his own. Both the Lakers, now fourth in the Western Conference, and the 10th-place Warriors have already locked in their spots for the 2026 postseason, which tips off on April 18.
The night brought a slate of other consequential late regular season matchups across the league. The New York Knicks pulled out a 112-106 win over the Boston Celtics, with Josh Hart leading all scorers with 26 points. The result puts mounting pressure on the Celtics, who enter the final two games of the regular season second in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Knicks climb to third. The Toronto Raptors earned a comfortable 128-114 win over the Miami Heat, and the Houston Rockets held off the Philadelphia 76ers 113-102 to boost their own playoff positioning. For teams already eliminated from postseason contention, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Washington Wizards 119-108, and the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 123-94 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Off the court, women’s basketball reached a major expansion milestone this week, with the Women’s National Basketball Association board of governors approving three new expansion franchises in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia that will grow the league to 18 teams by 2030. The Cleveland team will be the first of the three to take the court, making its debut in the 2028 WNBA season, with Detroit joining the league in 2029 and Philadelphia following a year later in 2030.
The latest expansion marks the latest in a series of growth moves for the WNBA, which has added four new franchises in a five-year window. The Golden State Valkyries are set to make their debut in 2025, with the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire launching their inaugural seasons this coming year. The 2026 WNBA regular season is scheduled to tip off on May 8 and run through September 24, kicking off what will be a historic period of growth for the league.