LOS ANGELES — LeBron James said he felt “pretty good” mentally and physically after his nine-day, two-game absence from the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I mean it’s very rare, to be honest, if you can get a break in the schedule like that,” James said after the Lakers’ 116-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. “So it was a very easy decision for myself and for the team and for my trainer to be able to take advantage of those days just for everything. So, it was great.”
James had 18 points (7-for-17 shooting, 3-for-6 3-point shooting), eight rebounds, eight assists, one steal, two blocks and five turnovers in 34 minutes. The Lakers improved to 14-12 and are tied for ninth in the Western Conference.
James, 39, aggravated his left foot during the Lakers’ 134-93 loss to the Miami Heat on Dec. 4. He nearly missed their 134-132 overtime loss in Atlanta on Dec. 6, but was able to play through the pain. After the Lakers returned from their four-game road trip, James said he felt he was going to be unable to play in the Lakers’ next game, a home matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 8.
The 22-year veteran tried to go through his pregame workout before the Trail Blazers game and decided with his longtime trainer, Mike Mancias, and the Lakers that he should sit the contest. The group determined that it’d be best for James to miss the Lakers’ voluntary “get-what-you-need” day on Tuesday and their practice on Wednesday, before ultimately deciding that he would benefit from one more game and almost an additional week off.
“I had an opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be for tonight,” James said. “And it worked out.”
James, who stated earlier in the season that his goal was to play in all 82 games, said he had to be convinced of the plan.
“I listen to more than just myself, because if it was up to just me, I probably would’ve played in the Portland game and (I’m) not sure if I would’ve played in the Minnesota game, but it would’ve been hard to keep me away from it,” James said. “I have a team and I gotta listen to them as well. They look out for my best interest.”
When asked if part of the reason he took time off was because of the mentally taxing nature of this season — several of James’ metrics are the lowest they’ve been since his rookie season and the Lakers were 13-12 and 10th in the West entering Sunday’s game — James rejected the premise.
“No, no different from any other year,” James said. “The season is always a mind — I mean, I know the word I want to use but I’m not going to use (it), but you get it. Every year has its own challenges and this year is no different.”
James said he rehabbed and trained while away from the team because he “didn’t want to get too much out of shape.”
He also spent his time away from the team watching his son, Bronny, play with the South Bay Lakers in the G League. Bronny has scored 62 points over his past three games on 25-for-58 shooting (43.1 percent).
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“Just keep stacking the days, keep putting in the work,” James said of his message to his son. “The work always prevails at the end of the day. It’s just great to see him getting back into the flow, getting back to his game, getting back to him just playing free and going out and just playing the game that he loves and knows how to play. I loved his aggressiveness.”
James added that his left foot soreness is an injury that has bothered him for several years now and that he’s going to have to manage moving forward. James missed time during the 2022-23 season with a right foot injury before he visited with the “LeBron James of feet,” according to James at the time.
“Nah, it’s not behind me,” James said when asked if the break healed his foot. “It’s an everyday thing. It’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 (Anthony Davis), that’s now back to 100 percent. Probably three days ago it was still pretty sore. But I’m able to get that back to 100 (percent), so that was great, so I was able to hit a lot of other elements as well.”
James is averaging 22.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 9.1 assists on 49.2-36.5-74.3 shooting splits in 35.0 minutes per game. He’s appeared in 24 of Los Angeles’ 26 games.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said managing James’ workload will continue to be a collaboration between him and the Lakers, with Los Angeles considering playing James in shorter bursts to keep him fresher for longer in games.
“I think it requires communication and feedback from both parties,” Redick said. “Also maybe it’s not sitting out of (the) game, maybe it’s not necessarily like I told him the night before the game, not necessarily less minutes, but shorter runs so that he’s not getting gassed and then quicker segments on the bench and then he’s back in. You know what I mean? So there’s different ways to do it than just to say we’re going to rest you and you’re going to sit out the game.”
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(Photo: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
