The Los Angeles Lakers announced that LeBron James (left foot injury management) has been ruled out of Sunday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Marcus Smart (back spasms) is also listed as out and will miss his second straight game.
The Lakers’ game against the Pelicans on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena is the first night of a back-to-back with the Phoenix Suns coming to town on Monday. With that, they are being cautious with both James and Smart, likely hoping both will be able to suit up against the Suns.
As James nears his 41st birthday, the organization is clearly taking a cautious approach in his 23rd season to ensure he stays healthy and fresh for the playoffs. LeBron missed the first 14 games of the year due to sciatica on his right side and will now miss his 15th game. Considering he is unlikely to play in 65 regular season games this season, James will not qualify for any of the end-of-year awards.
The focus for him and the Lakers is on winning a championship though, and they have won all four games he has suited up to this point.
Smart has also made a positive impact on the Lakers this season, particularly on the defensive end of the court. He is also a veteran that they want to manage though, so they will not push him to play through back spasms to avoid it becoming a more serious issue.
The Lakers go into Sunday night’s game winners of six straight and with a 14-4 record overall. They have been able to overcome injuries and rack up wins all year, so the hope is that they will be able to keep that going against a Pelicans team that comes in struggling, losing 11 of their last 12.
Lakers had already planned to find rest for LeBron James
LeBron James sitting out in the first night of a back-to-back shouldn’t come as a surprise as Lakers head coach JJ Redick had previously discussed the team’s plan to find him rest throughout the season.
“Yeah, we’ll do what we did last year, which is daily communication with him, with Mike (Mancias),” Redick said. “We’re gonna have to, I used the word uncharted territory a few times in the preseason, we’re gonna have to just manage this as best as we can given there’s no precedent for it.
“He knows his body better than anyone, Mike obviously probably No. 2 there. So the level of communication we had last year and throughout this 6-7 week period has been really good so I don’t expect it to change there. We’ll figure out ways to get him rest when he needs rest.”
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