LeBron James is an incredible basketball player and physical specimen, and even though he hasn’t played much so far in the 2023-24 preseason, there are signs that he will be better as he enters his 21st season. , he is still his usual self.
He played 18 minutes against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, all in the first half, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting and dishing out five assists. He’ll have more help defensively and offensively than he has in quite some time, which should allow him to conserve energy.
But at age 38, his minutes and overall workload still need to be managed, and head coach Davin Hamm said the Lakers will play it by ear.
Via Lakers Nation:
“It’s a day-to-day deal. It’s a great thing to work with the medical staff and himself, Rob (Pelinka). We’re going to come up with a solid plan,” Hamm said. “Again, it’s easy for him to deal with those so-called unknown challenges because he takes good care of himself. Constantly preparing himself.
“Again, not just to be able to play, but to play at the highest level, again, we’ll just see day by day where it goes, but certainly he’ll play half of the (preseason) games. That’s the plan, that’s the plan. “We’re not going to waver on that, but other than that, everything else, we’ll take it day by day. “
The team appears to be hoping to reduce his minutes and usage this season, especially after he played significant minutes for much of the past two seasons. Hamm, on the other hand, also said the superstar looks like his third or fourth grade self.