13 Times Sports Kids Stole the Spotlight

Professional athletes are often the famous ones in their families, but sometimes it's their kids who steal the spotlight.

Some of these famous offspring inherited athletic skills from their parents, and others are just downright adorable. Young Riley Curry has stolen our hearts during the NBA playoffs, but is she the biggest name in sports kids right now?

There will always be examples of talented and adorable children taking over in sports, but here are a few recent stories featuring these young shining stars.

Milan Pique

Milan Pique is the two-year-old son of entertainer Shakira and Spanish footballer Gerard Pique. It might be hard to shine in the shadow of not one but two famous parents, but not for young Milan. After his dad's team, FC Barcelona, played Deportivo La Coruna to a 2-2 draw, Milan joined his dad on the field to score his very first goal at Camp Nou.

Trent Harris

Clark Harris is a long snapper for the Cincinnati Bengals, and he has an adorable son. Two-year-old Trent Harris sang the national anthem at a high school basketball game in New Jersey back in February, and he nailed it.

Clippers' Kids

The Los Angeles Clippers had a pretty successful season, minus that whole Game 6 collapse in the Western Conference semifinals. Before their season ended, the Clippers players took a break from practice and instead organized a three-on-three game featuring their kids. No surprise here: Some of them looked pretty good.  

Jameson Axford

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Jameson Axford is the two-year-old son of Colorado Rockies pitcher John Axford. Jameson was bitten by a rattlesnake in March and spent four weeks in intensive care. He is in recovery but was still able to toss out the first pitch of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers from his wheelchair. Jameson threw the pitch to his father and brother, creating a very touching moment.

Sam and Charlie

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The Masters Par 3 Contest at Augusta National is an annual event that welcomes golfers' children, family and friends to take part. Tiger Woods recently participated for the first time since 2004 and brought his children, Charlie and Sam, along with him. The kids caddied for their dad throughout the day and strolled around the course with Woods' then-girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn.

Chris Paul Jr.

Chris Paul's son has to be mentioned here because he's a press conference veteran. His epic "Blake face" presser in 2012 may be the cutest thing you'll see from the child of an NBA player.  

The younger Paul was at it again in April, rocking blue wrist bands and backing up his pops on decisions regarding playing time. 

Shareef O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal's son Shareef is apparently very tall (shocking) and also very good at basketball (also shocking). The 6'7" freshman at the Windward School in Los Angeles recently made headlines after videos of his budding basketball talent surfaced.  

P.J. Rose

Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls were eventually eliminated from the NBA playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers. But before all that, Rose was able to bring his two-year-old son to the Game 4 postgame press conference. Little P.J. looked great, for starters, sporting a Bulls hat and a Chicago Cubs jersey. He's also probably going to give Anthony Davis a run for his money in the eyebrow department one day.

Cristiano Ronaldo Jr.

Cristiano Ronaldo's son is so darn adorable. Cristiano Jr. truly is a little mini-me of his dad. The elder Ronaldo recently tweeted about the two of them working out together. At this rate, Junior might become even better than his dad on the pitch one day.

Cristiano Jr. Again

Obviously, there are a lot of sweet moments involving Cristiano Ronaldo's young son, including his public adoration of Lionel Messi. However, this interview hijack, which begins at the 11:25 mark of the video, is up there with the best.

After winning his third Ballon d'Or, Ronaldo was in the middle of an interview with Portuguese journalist Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa when suddenly, his son crashed the party. The best part? Junior was wearing a Superman costume.

LeBron James Jr.

LeBron James might be the best basketball player on the planet, but his son LeBron Jr. looks pretty good, too. A video of his performance at the John Lucas All-Star Classic in February went viral and got folks buzzing about 10-year-old Bronny's talent. But the early hype might be a bit much.

In fact, the elder James has actually voiced concern over recruitment letters his son is getting. James told Mike Sullivan of CBS Detroit, "Yeah, he's already got some offers from colleges, it's pretty crazy. It should be a violation, you shouldn't be recruiting 10-year-old kids."

Riley Curry

Riley Curry has been the star of the NBA playoffs thus far. Steph Curry's two-year-old daughter joined him for a postgame press conference after Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Curry had 34 points in the Golden State Warriors' win over the Houston Rockets, but his daughter stole the show with her hand-waving, microphone-hijacking and just general cuteness.

Not everyone thought it was adorable, however, as several members of sports media communicated their opposition for children at pressers. For instance, Skip Bayless of ESPN's First Take said Riley's presence "hurt the process." Well, bah humbug.  

Riley Curry Again

Riley was back to being her adorable self after the Golden State Warriors wrapped up the Western Conference Finals. The NBA Finals will be packed full of big names—Steph Curry, LeBron James—but young Riley is sure making a run for the title of brightest star in the playoffs.