Over the past couple of weeks, the process to get Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James ready to make his season debut has progressed greatly. LeBron was cleared for on-court work as he recovers from dealing with sciatica. He also got in a couple of practices with the South Bay Lakers while the main roster embarked on a five-game road trip.
Now that the Lakers have returned home following a relatively promising 3-2 trip, LeBron was able to participate in his first full practice with the team this season. And assuming all goes well and there are no setbacks, James should be beginning his record-breaking 23rd NBA season soon.
“Yeah, it feels good. It feels good to be out here with the guys. Missed it,” James said after Monday’s practice.
When exactly James will return to the lineup is still unclear as LeBron said his status for the Lakers’ contest against the Utah Jazz is still to be determined.
“We got a long time. I mean, we’ve been taking literally one minute, one hour, one step at a time throughout this whole process,” he said. “So see how I feel this afternoon, see how I feel tonight. When I wake up in the morning, we’ll probably have shootaround. So, just gotta see how the body responds over the next 24 hours-plus.”
This is the first time James was injured to start a season, which was understandably not easy for him.
“It sucks. It definitely sucks,” he admitted. “Never in my life since I started playing the game of basketball have I ever not started the season, in my life. So it’s been a it’s been a mind test but I’m built for it and it’s been putting in the work, both mentally and physically trying to get myself ready to rejoin the team.”
James also discussed what the process like has been for him to come back from the sciatica, which he also revealed that he dealt with in the summer of 2023.
“It’s just been kind of the same revolving door,” James said. “Just repetition, repetition, repetition; rehabbing, rehabbing, rehabbing. Just trying to get back where I can feel like myself again. It’s great to be out here today.”
Even though he is back at practice though and potentially on the verge of making his season debut, James isn’t pain-free just yet.
“I wouldn’t take it that far,” he said. “Like I said, if you ever had it, you go about it and you wake up one day and you hope that when you step down from the bed that you don’t feel it. You go to bed at night. And you hope that when you’re in the bed that you don’t feel it. So I’ve been doing pretty good with it as of late. There’s a lot of exercises and a lot of mobility things and a lot of things you can do to help it. So I’m just keeping a positive mindset.”
A nerve issue in the back is always something to be very careful with and that is what he and the Lakers have been doing. And thanks to the outstanding play of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the team has been able to get off to a strong start to the season while LeBron recovers. But there is no doubt that if the Lakers are going to reach their ultimate potential and have any chances of competing for a championship, they need James healthy.
As LeBron said, how he feels on Tuesday will likely play the biggest role in whether or not he suits up against the Jazz. But what is good for the Lakers and LeBron is that they should have the ability to ease him in and not put too much on his plate, at least offensively.
LeBron James nearly lost voice in first practice
After being out of action for so long, LeBron James nearly lost his voice after his first practice from talking so much on defense.
“As expected. My lungs feel like a newborn baby. That’s the most important thing,” he said when asked how he felt. “I got to get my lungs back up to a grown man. My voice is already gone. One day back, barking out calls and assignments and stuff, getting my voice working again. Be a lot of tea and rest tonight.”
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