After missing the Los Angeles Lakers’ last two games due to left foot soreness, LeBron James returned to the court on Sunday night, helping earn an impressive six-point victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. LeBron did a little bit of everything in his return game, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two blocks in the win.
Of course the main question after the game is how his foot is feeling and how much good his time off did him. James had nine days off in between games and while it undoubtedly allowed him to heal up a couple of things bothering him, the foot issue is one that he will be dealing with going forward.
“It’s an everyday thing. It’s not behind me. It’s an everyday thing,” LeBron said of his foot soreness. “It’s something that’s been lingering for the last few years, but I was able to do a lot of great things to reassure; not only that but I got kneed in the quad in the Atlanta game at the end of regulation by AD, so that is now back to 100%. But that was over probably a few, like, three days ago. Still pretty soon, but I’m able to get that back to 100. So that was great. So I was able to heal a lot of ailments as well.”
James being as close to 100% as possible and performing at a high level is necessary for this Lakers team to compete in this extremely tough Western Conference. Even for someone who defies all things that should be possible at this stage of his career, LeBron needs to be managed overall in order to ensure he can play at the level the Lakers need.
With the amount of miles on his body, there are just certain aches and pains that won’t go away for LeBron. As he said this foot issue is one that has been bothering him for years. But he and the Lakers staff must figure out the best way for him to manage and deal with these things while still performing and all of these days off greatly helped on that front.
JJ Redick says Lakers communicating with LeBron James about managing workload
LeBron James has always been adamant about wanting to play in every game as long as he’s healthy. While Lakers head coach JJ Redick agrees that should always be the goal, he also understands that sometimes a break is needed and he and the Lakers are continually communicating with LeBron about giving him those.
“Let me start by saying I think every player should want to play in every game. That should be the goal,” Redick said. “Within an NBA season, for guys that play heavy minutes, there are times when you need a break. It’s just a reality. Later in my career, specifically with like Philly, they would come to me and say hey, you’re running hot. Let’s look ahead at the schedule, there’s a back-to-back here, do you think one of these games would make sense for you to rest? I think we’re trying to do that. We’ve communicated with LeBron, with Mike (Mancias), Leroy (Sims), Rob (Pelinka). It’s not like these conversations haven’t been happening already.”
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