As the James family made history this past year, let’s take a look at the 10 best father-son duos in sports history.
10 best father-son sports duos of all time
The elder Long had an unusual path to a Hall of Fame career, playing at Villanova right before its college football program briefly shut down. But as he emerged as a standout there, the Raiders selected him in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft. He went on to become one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL in the 1980s, making eight Pro Bowls and helping the Raiders win Super Bowl XVIII.
Long’s eldest son, Chris, followed in his footsteps. The second overall pick in 2008, Chris Long had several solid seasons with the Rams before winning a Super Bowl title with the Patriots in 2016 and the Eagles a year later. Long, who finished his career with 70 sacks, was one of the few players in NFL history to win back-to-back Super Bowls with different teams. He and his father also became the first father-son duo to ever win a Super Bowl.
Kyle Long, meanwhile, played on the other side of the ball. The three-time Pro Bowl guard was a first-round pick of the Bears, and he spent most of his career in Chicago, losing to the Eagles (and his brother) in the memorable “Double Doink” playoff game. He joined the Chiefs for a season in 2021 after a one-year retirement but did not appear in any games with them due to injury.
9. Cecil Fielder and Prince Fielder
A pair of Fielders are among the top power–hitting father-son duos in MLB history. Cecil Fielder was an All-Star for the Tigers in the early 1990s after stints with the Blue Jays and in Japan, leading the American League in homers in back-to-back seasons. He also became the first AL player since Babe Ruth to lead the league in RBIs for three straight seasons. He later won a World Series with the Yankees, finishing his career with 319 homers and three All-Star nods.
The younger Fielder was every bit the hitter that his father was. He quickly emerged as one of the game’s top sluggers when he was with the Brewers in the mid-to-late 2000s, hitting 50 homers in his third season. He later joined the Tigers, nearly helping them win a World Series in 2012. A six-time All-Star, Prince Fielder’s 50-homer season made the Fielders the first father-son duo to record at least 40 homers in a season. He also hit the same number of homers as his father did in his career.
Decades before Klay Thompson was a centerpiece of the Warriors‘ dynasty, his father was a key contributor to the Lakers’ dynasty in the 1980s. He helped Los Angeles win a pair of titles, averaging over 10 points per game off the bench in those championship seasons. Prior to that, Thompson was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft by the Trail Blazers, enjoying eight solid years there before joining the Spurs in 1986.
Klay Thompson made up half of the “Splash Brothers” twosome that won four championships between 2014-22. The five-time All-Star averaged over 20 points per game in each of Golden State’s title-winning seasons, with the Warriors reaching the NBA Finals two more times during his tenure with the team. The Thompsons are one of five father-son duos to have ever won an NBA title.
The other half of the “Splash Brothers” was the son of an NBA standout, too. Dell Curry broke out as one of the first great 3-point shooters in the league, making 40.2% of his shots from deep over his 16-year career. He also won Sixth Man of the Year in 1994 and is second on the Hornets‘ all-time points leader list.
Of course, Steph Curry took his father’s 3-point prowess to a whole other level. The Warriors star revolutionized the game with his 3-point shooting, winning two MVPs (including the first unanimous one in league history) en route to guiding Golden State to four championships. Curry set the NBA’s all-time record for 3-pointers made in 2021, six months before he won his first Finals MVP.
The Earnhardts are two of NASCAR‘s most iconic drivers. The elder Earnhardt participated in 676 Winston Cup races, winning 76 of them. Earnhardt’s career came to an end after he was involved in a fatal crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. He was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2010.
Earnhardt Jr. won 26 Cup Series races, including the Daytona 500 twice (2004, 2014). He had 260 top-10 finishes in Cup races in his career and was named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2021.
5. Bobby Bonds and Barry Bonds
Before Barry Bonds reset the record books, his father also joined the record books in a unique way. Bobby Bonds, a three-time All-Star, was just the second player to hit 300 career home runs and steal 300 bases, recording 332 homers and 461 stolen bases.
Three decades after Bonds emerged as a young star with the Giants, his son added to his already Hall of Fame career in a big way during his time in the Bay Area. He won five of his seven NL MVPs during his 15 seasons with the Giants, including four in a row at the start of the century. Bonds broke a couple of home run records as well, hitting 73 homers for the most in a single season ever in 2001 and setting the all-time record for homers with 762.
The Guerreros have left their mark on Canadian baseball history. The elder Guerrero was a four-time All-Star with the Expos, finishing in the NL’s top 10 in homers four times during his eight seasons in Montreal. He added to his historic career in his first season with the Angels, hitting 39 homers in 2004 to win his first and only MVP. The nine-time All-Star became a Hall of Famer on the second ballot.
As for the younger Guerrero, he turned into one of MLB’s best power hitters in just a short time. He hit 48 homers in his third season in 2021, which marked his first of four straight All-Star nods. Guerrero Jr. is only 25 years old, so it’s possible this father-son duo could climb the list.
3. Bobby Hull and Brett Hull
The Hull family produced two of the greatest players in NHL history. Bobby Hull was arguably the best player in the history of the sport during his prime, leading the league in goals in seven seasons and finishing second all-time in goals scored (610) at the time of his retirement. The two-time MVP winner also led the league in scoring three times.
The younger Hull might have been an even better player than his father. Brett Hull scored 741 goals in his career, the fifth-highest in league history. He also won Stanley Cups in 1999 with the Stars and in 2002 with the Red Wings. A nine-time All-Star, Brett Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, joining his father to become the Hall’s first father-son duo.
2. Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. notably made history when they became the first father-son duo to play together in the majors. Before they appeared in 51 games together in the early 1990s, Griffey Sr. played a key role in the Reds‘ World Series triumphs in the 1970s. He was one of the best contact hitters in the game when they won it all in 1975 and was an All-Star a year later when the Reds claimed the World Series again. Griffey Sr. ended his career as a three-time All-Star.
The younger Griffey is known as one of the greatest players in MLB history. He was a 13-time All-Star and an MVP winner, leading the AL in homers four times. Junior, who mostly starred for the Mariners and Reds, also won 10 Gold Gloves in his career. He ranks seventh all-time with 630 career home runs, and he set a record at the time for the highest Hall of Fame voting share in 2016.
1. Archie Manning and Peyton Manning, Eli Manning
Most families would love to have one quarterback good enough to make the NFL. The Manning family not only had three (likely to be four soon), but all three also became top quarterbacks in the league.
Archie Manning was a two-time Pro Bowler over his 14-year NFL career, spending most of it with the Saints in their early seasons as a franchise. While the Saints never had much team success with Manning, he was widely viewed as one of the best passers of the 1970s.
Manning’s two quarterback sons wound up having even better careers than he did. Peyton Manning, the elder of the two, lived up to the hype as a generational prospect when the Colts selected him first overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. He won four MVPs during his time in Indianapolis and brought the Colts a Super Bowl title in 2006. Manning continued his all-time career with the Broncos in 2012, adding another MVP award and Super Bowl championship in the final four seasons of his career. He still holds several NFL records, including MVP wins, and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2021.
Eli Manning could become a first-ballot Hall of Famer soon, too. The Giants‘ decision to trade up and nab him with the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft paid dividends. While the youngest Manning didn’t have the individual prowess that his older brother had, he led the Giants to a great deal of success. He helped them pull off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history in the 2007 season, giving the then-undefeated Patriots their first loss in dramatic fashion. Manning took down the Patriots in the Super Bowl again four years later, making him one of a handful of quarterbacks to start in two Super Bowl wins.
The Manning family could add a third generation to strengthen their standing on this list soon. Arch Manning, who is the grandson of Archie and the nephew of Peyton and Eli, is set to begin his first season as Texas’ starting quarterback in 2025. The highly-touted quarterback prospect has been widely considered as one of the favorites to win the Heisman in the upcoming season and viewed as the frontrunner to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Honorable mentions:
Sandy Alomar, Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr.
Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders
Doc Rivers and Austin Rivers
Joe Bryant and Kobe Bryant
Clay Matthews Jr., Clay Matthews III and Casey Matthews
