LeBron James will miss the Los Angeles Lakers’ regular season opener on Oct. 21 due to sciatica on his right side, according to a report from The Athletic on Thursday.
James will be reevaluated in 3-4 weeks, per the report. He still has not participated in a full practice since the Lakers’ training camp started more than a week ago.
Coach JJ Redick is being pragmatic about the effect of the 40-year-old superstar’s absence on the team.
“He’s on his own timeline,” Redick said.
James began camp for his unprecedented 23rd NBA season last week with a lower-body nerve injury that kept him off the court. The Lakers held their sixth full practice of camp Thursday without the top scorer in NBA history, who also missed both of their first two preseason games while he works to get back into competitive condition.
“You’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt,” Redick said. “That’s a shame, but that’s just the reality. … No one has got any time with LeBron. That’s not just (new center Deandre Ayton), but everybody. (James) hasn’t been on the court with the team, but that’s just the reality.”
Redick and the rest of the Lakers expressed excitement last week about the chance to have their first full training camp together with James and Luka Doncic, who scarcely ever got to practice with his new team after joining Los Angeles in the middle of last season.
Instead, the Lakers are installing their offense and building court chemistry during this camp largely without James on the court. They’re also getting limited time so far with Doncic, who is making a deliberate return to full speed after his participation in EuroBasket during a busy summer.
Neither superstar played in the Lakers’ first two preseason games. They return to the court Sunday at home against Golden State.
Doncic participated in some full practices last week, including scrimmages, but Ayton said Wednesday that he would love to get more practice time with the Lakers’ two biggest stars.
“It’s something I’ve just been waiting on,” Ayton said. “Just got to prepare. JJ and the coaching staff probably have something where they can put stuff together for all of us to really grow chemistry.”
James traveled with the Lakers on their preseason trips to Palm Desert, California, and San Francisco, but he has been performing individual drills and doing his own workouts.
James made news and scared his fans earlier this week when he teased “The Second Decision” on social media — for what turned out to be an advertisement for a cognac brand. James has repeatedly said he doesn’t know whether he will retire after this season, only saying that the end to the longest career in NBA history will be “sooner than later.”
Redick had said he was hopeful that James and Doncic would participate in at least one preseason game that could be used as a “dress rehearsal” for the regular season, but James has now been ruled out.
Redick still expects Doncic to play in the preseason at least once. The Lakers have four preseason games remaining, including two in Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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