Amid an prolonged break for groups that have not superior within the NBA Cup, LeBron James is “taking a while off” from Lakers observe, head coach JJ Redick mentioned.
Redick advised reporters On Wednesday, James missed Wednesday’s observe attributable to “private causes” and his absence was excused. Additional particulars about why James missed observe are unclear.
The Lakers, like the remainder of the NBA that did not attain the NBA Cup quarterfinals, have a couple of days off this week. They performed for the final time on Sunday, a 107-98 victory towards the Portland Path Blazers. They may then play Friday towards the Minnesota Timberwolves.
James missed Sunday’s sport towards Portland due to left foot soreness. This absence was his first in 24 video games with the Lakers this season. His standing for Friday’s sport towards Minnesota is unclear.
Redick mentioned earlier than Sunday’s Path Blazers sport that James’ day without work this week “may very well be actually good for him.” After the sport, he inspired all Lakers gamers to take advantage of the prolonged start-of-season break.
“Hell, if anybody desires to spend a couple of nights in Santa Barbara and chill out, that is nice too,” Redick mentioned, by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It’s 1 / 4 of the best way by means of the season.”
Not qualifying for the NBA Cup playoff rounds definitely has its benefits.
James will flip 40 on December 30. He is averaging 23 factors, 9.1 assists and eight rebounds per sport this season and stays one of the crucial dominant forces within the league. It additionally confirmed indicators of damage together with a 10-point effort in a loss to the Timberwolves on Dec. 2 that threatened to finish a 1,242-game double-digit scoring streak.
The Lakers (13-11) additionally stumbled into the NBA Cup break with seven losses in 10 video games, together with a 134-93 loss to the Warmth on Dec. 4. If there are alternatives for James to step again inside the limits of NBA guidelinesit is smart that he and the Lakers would profit.
“Within the sport, he was known as for a substitution a number of instances as a result of he was gassed,” Redick mentioned, in keeping with McMenamin. “For us, we’ve got to remember that we’re enjoying increasingly more video games, simply the cumulative impact of enjoying a whole lot of minutes and Sunday, being banged up with the foot, it appeared like alternative for him to relaxation.” .
It stays to be seen whether or not James will likely be again for Friday’s sport and past. His standing — and the Lakers’ reasoning if he misses extra time — will likely be value monitoring.
