As a new season approaches, teams are taking advantage of training camp and preseason to build on-court reps. For the Los Angeles Lakers though, they are not reaping those same benefits as it was recently announced that LeBron James would miss a few weeks with a sciatica on his right side.
This is less than an ideal start to a season for head coach JJ Redick, missing a star-caliber player when reps are so important for building chemistry. Fortunately, Luka Doncic is in top shape and ready to lead the Lakers in James’ absence.
L.A. also brought in reinforcements this summer, so the depth on the roster is better than last year and more prepared to bear James’ absence. After practice on Saturday, Redick shared his initial reaction to LeBron missing extended time and how the team will manage in his absence.
“We knew that he was dealing with the nerve irritation, so you hope that he’s back soon,” Redick said. “Those things can be tricky and we knew this going into camp, so it wasn’t like this changed anything for how we want to practice or what our philosophies are for preseason games. It is unclear what the starting lineup is gonna be, that’s the reality until he’s back. So we’ll have to figure that out.”
Redick added that it’s possible he will have a starting lineup in place just until LeBron is healthy and then reassess.
“Potentially, yeah. It’s something that certainly has crossed my mind in the last couple of days,” he said.
There are not many easy opponents in today’s NBA with parity at an all-time high, but the Lakers due have a fairly light schedule to open the year. Ideally, James would be back before their first long road trip of the season on Nov. 8 that starts against the Atlanta Hawks.
Considering his age and the mileage on his body though, the Lakers surely won’t rush LeBron back in the first half of the season.
But seeing how the likes of Deandre Ayton, Rui Hachimura, Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart step up to the plate in his absence will be interesting to see. However, if L.A. wants to be successful in a post-James era, this is the opportunity to prove that they can win consistently without him.
LeBron James believes Lakers roster will allow for him to ramp up throughout regular season
This is uncharted territory for LeBron James as he has never missed Opening Night. But, the Lakers would like not to rush him back as they need their 23-year veteran fully healthy to get through a grueling 82 games.
In previous years, L.A. would struggle mightily without James, but Luka Doncic is capable of picking up the slack. To that effect, LeBron thinks the roster will allow for him to take his time and ramp up on his own time throughout the regular season.
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