LeBron James will make his season debut Tuesday when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity, after sciatica kept James sidelined for the Lakers’ first 14 games.
James is “trending in the right direction,” coach JJ Redick said before Tuesday’s game, which will mark the beginning of James’ NBA-record 23rd season. The 40-year-old missed the beginning of a season for the first time in his NBA career after starting to feel discomfort in his right side this summer.
James missed all of training camp and the preseason. The Lakers put together a 10-4 record despite playing without their biggest star. In his place, Luka Doncic has emerged as the NBA’s leading scorer and guard Austin Reaves is off to a career season.
The star trio played together for several months last year after Doncic joined the Lakers in a blockbuster trade, helping the team grab the third seed in the Western Conference. Redick expects the experience to help James integrate smoothly this year.
“He’s smart enough and [there’s] enough carry over from last year, both with personnel and with our schemes, that I think it’ll be easy for him to be integrated right away,” Redick said.
James said after practice Monday he was not yet pain-free, but he has been able to manage the nerve injury enough to progress through practices with the G League team, the full NBA squad and then Tuesday’s shootaround. James said dealing with sciatica came with unexpected challenges. He often could only hope he wouldn’t feel pain when he woke up in the morning or when he went to sleep.
Redick said the team and James are approaching “uncharted territory” when it comes to managing the superstar’s health. Conversations have been consistent and will be ongoing as the season progresses.
“We’ll figure out ways to get him rest when he needs rest,” Redick said.
Staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.
