54 years ago, Matt Guokas Jr. made his NBA debut, completing the first time a father-son combo had minutes in the competition. Matt Sr had played in the 1940s with the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that his son also played for, and at the time he was one of the sports journalists covering the match. How many times did it happen again? We go over it.
In all, 89 father-son pairs have participated in the American competition since then. The curiosity surrounding the Guokas is that they are both the first duo to win at least one tournament championship per head. Rick Barry and his son Brent were second and Bill and Luke Walton were third. Drew and John also debuted in that family. They are not the only ones who have multiple cases in the same family: Mychal Thompson was proud that both Klay and Mychel could play games in a franchise.
It was exactly the same with Dell Curry and his sons Seth and Steph, perhaps the protagonist of the most successful case in terms of comparisons between the careers of the duo members. The other ensembles that fit those parameters are the Paxsons and the Grants: Jim Sr., Jim Jr., and John on the one hand, Harvey, Jerian, and Jerami on the other. All other cases refer to unique ties between a particular parent and child.
Kobe Bryant was not the first in his family tree to join the competition: Joe had already played for the Philadelphia 76ers and laid the foundations of what would later become the domain of the late former guard, who was crowned champion five times and scored a previous and an after from their arrival. Today, players like Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, Jae Crowder, Tim Hardaway Jr, Austin Rivers and Darius Garland all have a father who participated in the NBA. The last to join this select group is Bol Bol, son of the emblematic Manute.
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