Lakers’ LeBron James prepares for 21st season ‘like a rookie’

Dave McMenamin | ESPNSeptember 29, 2023 09:50 ESTReading: 5 minutes

The Lakers plan to help LeBron James continue his unprecedented momentum in Season 21, and that includes adding talent around him rather than reducing his playing time.

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El Segundo, California – Plan Los Angeles Lakers help LeBron James by entering Season 21 A stellar career means adding talent around him, not reducing his playing time.

“LeBron does a great job of taking care of himself,” Lakers head coach Davon Hammat a press conference on Thursday Los Angeles training camp starts next week. “Now the team around him, the pieces that we have in place, these guys are going to step up and do a lot of the heavy lifting up front.”

jameswhich will satisfy 39 years old He averaged 35.5 minutes per game in December, slightly less than the 37.2 minutes he averaged in 2021-22 but still more than in any of his first three seasons with the team. lakers. According to the statistics, james He still made an impact (he averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists on 50% shooting), but a torn tendon in his right foot caused him to miss 27 games.

Although the overall game performance dropped slightly james Since he and lakers, his body betrayed him sometimes. He missed only 71 games in his first 15 years in the league and has missed 111 games due to injury over the past five seasons.

Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager lakers, Rob Pelinkapraised the work ethic and spiritual approach james After a disappointing offseason Lakers playoff finals, where they were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.

“For a guy who’s been playing 20 years and is getting ready for ’21, it’s pretty cool, like he’s a rookie,” he said. Pelinka. “He’s been doing 6 a.m. practices. He’s been in our building probably as much as any player this offseason. He’s been in the weight room as often as any player. No matter which team he’s played for. lebrontheir work sets the tone, which is very consistent.

“There’s been nothing but an increase in seeing this here. To me, it’s more about doing it than talking about it. That’s definitely been on his mind this offseason.”

Pelinka He largely retained last season’s core of players, re-signing Anthony Davis, Austin Reeves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Jared Vanderbilt contract. Los Angeles filled out the rest of the roster with youth, athleticism and shooting ability, signing 27-year-old guard Gabe Vincent, 29-year-old forward Taurean Prince, 28-year-old big man Christian · Wood, center Jackson Hayes and swingman Cam Reddish, 24.

this lakers They also signed two rookies, 20-year-old Jalen Hood-Schiffino from Indiana and 21-year-old Maxwell Lewis from Pepperdine.

“We have to work with (James) to help him finish (the season) healthy because that’s his goal,” he said. Pelinka. “So I think adding the depth, versatility, shooting ability that we have, all of those things are going to help us do that.”

Ham Joking about the company’s new break policy NBA Based on James’ experience, it shouldn’t apply to him.

“He is protected by other rules,” he said Ham.

second year coach lakers He added that he will take a long-term look at the team’s 82-game schedule to look for opportunities. james Lighten your load.

“The big picture, month by month, different parts of the calendar,” Hamm said.

Very Ham as Pelinka However, administration supports new break policy lakers came up with what he thought was a better solution.

“One of the things we discussed (with) the competition committee was (if) we could eliminate back-to-back (games),” he said. Pelinka. “This is something we would support. Can we eliminate them completely?”

this Lakers have 15 straight series this seasoncompared with 12 last year.

OK James, Davis and Reeves are the obvious starters Following last season’s success, Ham announced on Thursday Russell will return as primary ball handler After serving as a substitute in the Denver series, he became the team’s main player.

“He’s our starting point guard,” he said. Ham. “I would encourage him to stay confident. He’s a very smart basketball player but comes back with a little bit of resentment. He chose us and we believed in him and he’s one of those guys who has a lot of pride and passion and not just His individual performance, but also the performance of his teammates.

“He’s another guy who’s going to have a phenomenal season.”