No player in league history has maintained the level of play that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has through 20 NBA seasons. Now entering his 21st year, and coming off a foot injury he played through last season, head coach Darvin Ham wants to be sure he doesn’t overwork his leader.
Keeping LeBron fresh throughout the season is of the utmost importance and Ham along with the Lakers coaches and training staff are going to be sure they do everything to make that possible, along with James himself.
“We collaborate and communicate on what those steps will be,” Ham said when asked about managing LeBron. “Obviously we put our heads together with the medical staff, Mike Mancias in particular, and we make sure we come up with an effective plan.
“The beautiful thing about the way we move forward with that is: 1. He’s in phenomenal shape. 2. He’s probably got more years and experience than, outside of AD, our entire team combined in terms of games played and minutes played, and he takes phenomenal care of himself.”
James has always taken excellent care of his body so there is never any worry there. Him being in constant communication with Ham and the staff will allow for the team to do whatever is necessary to keep him in peak condition.
Something else that will help LeBron is the Lakers roster itself. Ham believes that the depth the Lakers have assembled will allow James to ease into the season and pick his spots for when he needs to turn it up.
“So just kinda easing into it and the fact that our roster makeup is what it is, he doesn’t have to start the season with his cape on, so to speak,” Ham added. “We’re gonna work these days and try to get better at something each and every day and the help that he has around him will allow him to not have to be full throttle in every practice, every preseason game.
“But he’s a prideful player and that’s why he is who he is and he understands what the competition level is gonna be like and he gets his work in for sure. So that puts us all at rest in terms of the totality of the team and the type of way he’s built. It just puts us at ease in terms of how we manage him.”
This Lakers team is arguably the deepest in the league and those players performing to their ability will make life easier on LeBron. The team has players who can create for themselves and others, shoot, defend and of course Anthony Davis can be that centerpiece on both ends of the court.
All of this together should conceivably allow LeBron not overextend himself on the court, and get more rest during games, ensuring he can deliver for the Lakers when it matters most.
LeBron James won’t play in Lakers preseason opener, hopes to play in half of preseason games
The Lakers are now set to kick off their preseason against the Golden State Warriors. James revealed that he will not be in uniform for that game, but plans on suiting up for at least half.
“Six of them, six preseason games, so hopefully I can get to at least half of them. But we’ll see,” James said after practice on Thursday. “I think every game will dictate it. I will not be playing in Saturday’s game, that’s for sure, in the Bay. But we’ll see after that.”
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