LeBron James continues to earn his status as the G.O.A.T.

After recently stepping away due to injury, the Los Angeles Lakers star made basketball league history when he returned to the court on Dec. 19. During a 113-100 game against the Sacramento Kings, LeBron broke the record for most minutes played in NBA history.

"Congrats to @KingJames of the @Lakers," the NBA wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Dec. 19, "for becoming the NBA's all-time leader in TOTAL MINUTES PLAYED in the regular season!"

The 39-year-old has officially played 57,471 minutes in 1,517 games, taking over the record previously held by six-time NBA MVP and fellow Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of 57,446 minutes.

But that wasn't the only milestone for LeBron during the game, as he also crossed the 10,000-point threshold with the Lakers, making him the No. 13 scorer in the team's history. The No. 1 spot is still held by Kobe Bryant with 33,643 points scored during his 20 years with the team.

And LeBron was feeling especially grateful for the record-breaking achievements.

"It's just a commitment to the craft and to the passion and love I have for the game," he said in a press conference after the game, via NBA.com. "I don't take much time in the offseason. A little bit more time now.

He added, "I didn't take much time in the offseason, no matter if I was making the 10 Finals appearances back to back and just always trying to keep my body in tip-top shape."

And keeping his body in shape was a top priority over the past few weeks, as the NBA champion was forced to miss two games in an eight-day span due to a sore foot—which coach JJ Redick originally referred to as "personal reasons."

"If it was up to just me, I probably would've played," LeBron told reporters after the team's Dec. 15 match against the Memphis Grizzlies, per ESPN. "It would've been hard to keep me away from it. I have a team and I got to listen to them as well. They look out for my best interest."

But LeBron—who shares children LeBron 'Bronny' James Jr., 20, Bryce, 17, and Zhuri, 10, with wife Savannah James—was ultimately grateful he took the time he needed.

"I had an opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be for tonight," he continued. "And it worked out."

And it's especially important that he gets the chance to play alongside son Bronny, who was recruited by the Lakers earlier this year and also plays with the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League. To see more athletes who followed in their parent's footsteps, keep reading. 

Bronny James (born LeBron James Jr. on born Oct. 6, 2004) played high school basketball for Chatsworth Sierra Canyon in the San Fernando Valley before graduating to the university of Southern California.

While the NBA schedule has often kept LeBron from being able to attend a full slate of his son's games, he's been known to go to great lengths to watch Bronny in action. In fact, he once chartered a plane on an off-day to catch Sierra Canyon play against his own alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.

"To go watch my son play...and also versus my alma mater," LeBron told reporters, "it's a pretty surreal, come-full-circle, unbelievable thing."

In June 2024, Bronny was drafted to the Los Angeles Lakers, making him and LeBron the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time.

Also helping to make up the Sierra Canyon all-star squad? Zaire Wade, the eldest son of retired Miami Heat star (and former LeBron James teammate) Dwyane Wade.

"You've got to embrace it," Zaire, who transferred there in December 2019 from Florida, told Yahoo! Sports about the unusual amount of attention being paid to his team. "There are cameras on us wherever we go. There has been a lot of attention on me my whole life, but this is crazy. This is another level."

However, Zaire—unhappy with the lack of playing time he ended up getting—announced on Instagram In April 2020 that he'd be transferring to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, Fla.

Zaire was the 10th pick in the 2021 NBA G League draft, joing the Salt Lake City Stars. He went on to play for Cape Town Tigers of the Basketball Africa Leagu before signing with the of the ASEAN Basketball League in April 2024.

The retired football star has a daughter who may be able to leave him in the dust by now. After all, Cha'iel Johnson is a track and field star who competed in the 2017 AAU Junior Olympics at 12, winning the girls' 800-meter run.

She ran for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida, before joining the University of Kentucky athletics team.

The NBA Hall of Famer's third-eldest child, who measures up at 6-foot-10, played college basketball for UCLA before being sidelined with a heart condition that required surgery.

After missing out on his 2018-19 season with the California-based school, he transferred to Louisiana State, where there's a 900-pound bronze statue of Shaq outside the LSU Basketball Practice Facility in honor of its famous alum.

Shaq's 6-foot-2 daughter (pictured here with her brother Shareef O'Neal) announced her LSU enrollment in 2020 to join her sibling in playing college basketball for the school.

"One of the most difficult decisions for a person my age to make, is the jump from high school to college," she shared at the time. "Although I don't fully know what's ahead of me, I am ready for the challenge. I never imagined myself saying this, but I am excited to say that I have decided to commit to being a student athlete at LSU along side my brother Shareef O'Neal. I am Sooooo grateful to spend my next 4 years as a Tiger."

The eldest daughter of two-time NBA All-Star Zack Randolph played basketball alongside fellow NBA star scion Izela Arenas, daughter of Gilbert Arenas, during her studies at Sierra Canyon.

"I went to Michigan State under coach Tom Izzo," Randolph told the Los Angeles Times in December 2020. "He was a dog. Just hard. The boys you can be a little rough with. The girls, they have you wrapped around your finger. The girls look at you, 'Dad, I'm trying.' You have a special spot for the girls."

MacKenly said she'd beaten her dad three times in one-on-one, quipping, "He doesn't play any defense."

The 6-foot-3 son of the NFL Hall of Famer committed to Florida Atlantic University in 2019 as a preferred walk-on. Terique played basketball for most of his life before switching to football as a teen. He got his post-high school playing career off the ground at Contra Costa Community College before transferring.

The Sierra Canyon graduate started all four years and won two state titles. He played college ball for Vanderbilt, before signing a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2022.

After a brief stint on the NBA G-League affiliate the South Bay Lakers, Scotty Jr. signed a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2024.

The former Chicago Bulls star and five-time NBA champion is a lot of things—and a dad is one of them.

His son Dennis Rodman Jr.—or DJ—played basketball and football at Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach, Calif. After graduation, he became a forward at Washington State, before transferring to University of Southern California in 2023.

"He's one of the more under-rated or unknown players in Southern California," his high school coach, Ryan Schachter, told the Orange County Register after a game in 2017.

Though Dennis' son DJ followed his footsteps into basketball, his daughter Trinity Rodman carved her own path in the world of soccer. After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled her freshman season with the Washington State Cougars, she went professional and joined Washington Spirit in 2021 and United States women's national soccer team in 2022.

It's only fitting that golfing's GOAT has a kid who's got mad skills on the course. Charlie Woods made his televised-golf debut at the age of 11 alongside his dad at the 2020 PNC Championship.

When asked if he had been working on his swing ahead of the father-son outing, the 15-time major champion said, "I haven't put in any time. I don't really care about my game. I'm just trying to make sure that Charlie has the time of his life and is able to enjoy all of this.'' 

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