Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has put together another solid season in Year 23, though recently has been struggled with minor injuries that have kept him out of the lineup.
James has missed the past few games due to various ailments and was ruled out for the Lakers’ primetime matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Head coach JJ Redick didn’t sound concerned about James’ long-term status, calling him day to day.
“He did his on-court shooting before our film and walkthrough and probably just needs a couple more days,” Redick said before the game. “So he’s still day-to-day, sometimes day-to-day means two days and sometimes it can mean five or six days. He’s day-to-day.”
Redick also acknowledged that it’s touch and go with James as his body at this stage of his career won’t always respond positively to a game.
“We obviously want him in the lineup. When we were kind of approaching this stretch and you see the six games in eight nights and two back-to-backs last week, you never know how his body is gonna respond to a game and how his foot is gonna respond. So it’s not to say I expected him to miss a game, it’s just it wouldn’t have surprised me if he needed a day or two to get his body right. The fact that he had the falls in Denver, he’s trying to ramp up. He wants to be out there and so do we and hopefully he’s back soon.”
The Lakers went on to beat the Timberwolves for their third straight victory without James in the lineup. When Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves play but James doesn’t, the Lakers are now 10-2 on the year.
Redick discussed at length how the Lakers have managed to find success even without James in the lineup.
“I think when all three of those guys are on the court specifically, again, it goes back to the human element. It’s what they’re comfortable doing as basketball players, which, for all three of those guys, one of those guys having scored the most points in NBA history and doing it for 23 years, is to have the ball in his hands. [Luka Doncic] has five First Team All-NBAs, should make another First Team All-NBA this year, is [used] to having the ball in his hands. So the human struggle to want what you want, and AR is ascending to an All-Star level, but the human struggle to want what you want while also having the emotional maturity and recognition that you have someone next to you, it hasn’t been as clean. And I think losing a training camp and losing the start of the year and then kind of losing AR then for a long stretch, I think we’re starting to get it.
“But there’s a clear pecking order when Luka and AR are on the floor together with guys that are low usage players. That’s just the nature of it. And that’s the nature of nearly every Big 3 that’s ever existed. We’re gonna get there. And I think we’ve seen some positive signs, and I know LeBron, he recognizes the importance of having Luka as the engine. All he really wants is to impact winning. Again, I’ve said this now for the past two weeks. We’re gonna get there. We’re gonna get there.”
There’s no denying that Doncic and Reaves are the offensive focal points of Los Angeles’ offense, but James is still a valued member to their schemes on both sides of the floor. While the results haven’t quite been there amongst the “Big 3,” their collective offensive talent and basketball IQ should eventually work in their favor.
LeBron James critical of inconsistent NBA officiating
Besides injuries, another source of frustration for LeBron James is how he and the Lakers have been officiated. Players are often seen arguing with the referees and James didn’t hold back in his criticisms of the inconsistent officiating.
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