UPDATE — 12/16/24, 12:01 PM ET: Le Bron James returned to the court on Sunday, December 15, and explained how he spent his break from team activities.
The 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star had missed the team’s previous two games due to a foot injury. The Lakers will become head coach on Wednesday, December 11 JJ Redick said James had taken time off for “personal reasons.”
“A lot of rehab, a lot of training to make sure I was ready to go tonight,” James told reporters after Sunday’s 116-100 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. “I didn’t want to get too out of shape.”
James added: “I had the opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be for tonight. And it worked.”
The future Hall of Famer finished with 18 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
Original story below:
Le Bron James will miss his second straight game after being ruled out of the team for ‘personal reasons’ earlier this week.
The 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star missed Sunday’s Dec. 8 game against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a left foot injury — the first game James had missed this season.
During the team’s practice on Wednesday, December 11, the Lakers will become head coach JJ Redick explained James’s conspicuous absence.
“LeBron is not with the team right now,” Redick, 40, told reporters. “He is out for personal reasons, excused absence.”
Shaquille O’Neal’s son Sharif, Serena Williams’ daughter, Olympia, and many more kids are proving to be just as athletic as their parents. The son of the retired professional basketball player transferred from the University of California Los Angeles to Louisiana State University in 2020. He chose college because people there “didn’t really talk about his father.” […]
Redick said James was taking “some time” away from the team as the four-time MVP tries to get his body right for the remainder of his 22nd NBA season.
On Thursday, December 12, the Lakers announced that James would not play in the team’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, December 13. The power forward is officially on the list with ‘left foot pain’.
Sources told ESPN that James did not accompany the Lakers on their flight to Minnesota.
The Lakers will return home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, December 15. James’ status for that game has not yet been announced.
First-year Lakers coach Redick told reporters on Wednesday that James has admittedly been tired lately. He last played in the Lakers’ overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, December 6.
“In the game he gets asked for a sub a few times because he’s getting gassed,” Redick said. “For us, we have to be aware of the fact that we are playing more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot of minutes. rest.”
Things haven’t been smooth sailing for LeBron and the Lakers this past month. Heading into Friday’s game against the Timberwolves, the team has lost seven of its last 10 games.
James, who turns 40 on Dec. 30, has averaged 23 points, 9.1 assists and 8.0 rebounds this season.
After the Lakers’ loss to the Hawks, James talked about how injuries to the team’s depth players made things difficult.
“Because we don’t match the lineups, we obviously try to find ways,” he said. “So it is quite a challenge. We don’t have much room for error. … They’re big, big, big, big pieces.”
James added: “I don’t know what will get us over the hump. We just shouldn’t drown. Don’t drown, and we’ll be fine.”