One of the biggest stories that surrounded the post-trade deadline Los Angeles Lakers was the health of superstar LeBron James. He looked noticeably injured for a majority of the postseason, and it was revealed that he suffered a torn tendon in his foot, though the extent of the injury was never revealed per James’ wishes.
Darvin Ham and the Lakers never used James’ injury as an excuse, but it was clear that the team’s ceiling was limited with him playing at well below 100% of his capacity. The possibility of surgery was even discussed during the season, but James has yet to reveal if he underwent any type of procedure.
Regardless of whether or not he did, he now enters 2023-24 training camp seemingly at full strength and ready to attack a championship-contending season alongside a very talented Lakers roster. Ham spoke about James’ status and what he’ll bring to L.A. this season after being asked if it looks like he’s gotten his pre-injury burst back.
“Oh yeah. Without question. And he’s able to pick his spots now. He’s an elder, wise man on the court, as well as off the court. He’s very calculated in the way he chooses his spots to do that and to show that,” Ham said. “And now he has a ton of help. It’s only gonna make him and allow him to play and have that burst for longer stretches during games, during the season.
“So now when we get to our destination, he’ll be clicking on all cylinders. He’s 100% healthy. He looks fine. He looks like third- or fourth-year LeBron,” Ham continued. “He’s gonna quarterback. He’s going to help us decipher what we need to decipher in terms of strategy and how we attack our opponents. The same as he did last year.
“But this year, we just saw Gabe Vincent in today’s scrimmage with a huge 3-pointer to put his team up one and ultimately win the scrimmage. AD making big plays. D-Lo making big shots. Austin … he has help. Rui [Hachimura]. Christian Wood. There’s help everywhere,” Ham said of the L.A. roster. “Guys have made big shots, game-winning shots in big moments. Just based on that fact, he’ll be able to pick his spots when he needs to be aggressive.
“We want him to be aggressive, but also, again, he’s probably the most selfless elite superstar I’ve ever seen. He’s just going to make the right play. He got dogged for it early in his career saying he was afraid of the moment. Nothing could be further from the truth. He just takes his time and makes the right basketball play. And now, these guys who’ve been assembled to go around him and AD are only going to make that even more.”
James has always been smart about picking his spots judiciously during the regular season. But with a talented roster and in his 21st season, it is essential that he does that this year. Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and a deep Lakers roster should be able to pick up the slack for the first 82 games.
But the important news is that James is 100% healthy and ready for the season. His foot injury limited him severely by the end of 2022-23, and with the Lakers possibly competing for a championship, having a hobbled James is a big hit to that goal.
James calls Davis face of franchise
Part of James picking his spots is deferring more to Davis, the team’s other superstar. James has attempted to pass the torch to Davis for several years now, and looked to be doing so when the team won the 2020 NBA championship, but injuries have limited Davis over the past few seasons.
Now, James is pushing Davis as the face of the Lakers franchise.
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