The five best fathers and sons to play in the NBA

Sometimes it’s just in the genes. Planet Sport gives you the best father and son duos to grace the NBA.

Many fathers and sons have played in the NBA, but no father-son duos have graced the court together as teammates...yet. We are looking at you LeBron and Bronny James.

Planet Sport digs through the NBA archives to pull out five of the all time best. Are the sons always better than the fathers?

Joe and Kobe Bryant

Everyone knows about the greatness of Kobe Bryant, but the five-time NBA champion was not the first in the Bryant family to play in the league.
Kobe's father, Joe, played for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets between 1975-1983, averaging 8.7 PPG, 4 RPG and 1.7 APG as a forward.

Joe was picked number 14 in 1975, with his offspring going one better in 1996 when the Charlotte Hornets drafted him at 13, only to instantly (and regrettably) trade him to the LA Lakers.

Kobe won five championships, was an 18-time All-Star, two-time Finals MVP, one-time MVP, 15-time All-NBA, 12-time All-Defensive, and so on. The list of his accolades are endless. Kobe is a legend.

Fun fact: Joe was nicknamed 'Jellybean' which led to Kobe's middle name, Bean.

Mychal and Klay Thompson

Sharp-shooter Klay Thompson's father was a number one pick who enjoyed an excellent 13-year NBA career. Mychal was a solid center, averaging 13.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 1.1 BPG as he won two championships.
Klay has surpassed his father's legacy, however, with three NBA titles to his name. The younger Thompson averages 19.5 PPG and is a five-time All-Star.

One of the best 3-and-D players of all time, Klay gets the work done on both ends of the floor.

After horrendous injury problems between 2019-2022, Klay is back and flying for the Golden State Warriors.

Bill and Luke Walton

The first duo here where the father was the better of the two; Bill Walton is a legend of the game and enjoyed his most successful spell between 1977 and 1978 when he was a Portland Trail Blazer.

In this time, Walton won one of his two titles, was the NBA Finals MVP and league MVP, a two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA (first and second team), two-time All-Defensive first team, as well as the rebounding and blocking leader.

He averaged 13.3 PPG and 10.5 RPG in comparison to his son, Luke, who averaged 4.7 PPG and 2.8 RPG.
Luke spent ten years in the league, claiming two rings with the Lakers.

Rick and Brent, Jon, Drew Barry

Rick Barry was one hell of a player and he had not one, not two, but three of his sons play in the NBA, which in itself, is a massive achievement.

While none of his children hold a flame to him, Brent enjoyed the most success out of the three, winning two titles as he averaged 9.3 PPG as a solid three-point shooter.

Jon spent 14 years in the NBA, averaging 5.7 PPG and Drew averaged 2.2 PPG as he briefly represented three different teams.
As for Rick, he averaged close to 25 PPG over a glistening 15-year career. The small forward won one championship and was named an All-Star eight times.

Fun fact: Rick Barry married Pam Hale, the mother of the aforementioned trio. Pam's father, Bruce, also played in the NBA.

Dell and Steph, Seth Curry

Three-point shooting is in the genes when it comes to the Curry family.
Dell was a solid player, averaging 11.7 PPG as one of the best deep shooters in the league. The one-time Sixth Man of the Year retired as the Hornets' all-time leading scorer with 9,839 points.
The younger brother, Seth, is currently playing for Brooklyn Nets after doing undrafted in 2013. He is a good player who offers great three-point shooting. After struggling to get in the league, Curry was given his first contract that lasted more than 10 days by the Sacramento Kings in 2015.
Wardell Stephen Curry II. What is there to be said about this man that hasn't been said already?
Steph is the greatest three-point shooter of all time and completely changed how the game of basketball is played. Everything is so three-point orientated in the NBA and a lot of that comes down to Curry's influence.
The 34-year-old point guard is the only unanimous MVP in NBA history and is a three-time champion.

Fun fact: Seth Curry married Callie Rivers, who is the daughter of his former coach Doc Rivers and sister of his former college teammate Austin Rivers.

READ MORE: The best player of all time from every NBA franchise...

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