John Hefty-USA TODAY Sports
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is entering an unprecedented 21st NBA season. While he’s doing this, he’s still one of the best players in the NBA and will certainly lead Los Angeles to a championship this season. But his age and mileage pose some questions for head coach Dalvin Hamm and his staff.
In five seasons with the Lakers, James has missed the most games of his impressively long career. He played 55 of 82 games in 2018-19, 45 of 72 games in 2020-21, 56 of 82 games in 2021-22, and 56 of 82 games in 2022-23. Played in 55 of 82 games during the season. With that said, it’s now fair to question whether James has the ability to play 60-65 games in a season, or whether he can hypothetically miss 25 or more games.
One of the ways the Lakers can avoid missing James due to injury is to load-manage him at different points throughout the season. Ham is considering the option but said it will be an ongoing conversation as the campaign progresses.
“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. “
James is one of the most physically prepared players in the NBA. He does everything possible to make sure he helps his team compete in the best possible way. While he would certainly prefer to play every game, that’s not always possible at 21st grade and 38 to 39 years old.
The Lakers have built a strong enough roster this season that they should be able to weather the storm of James missing games from time to time. It’s all about keeping him healthy for the postseason while avoiding extended absences during the regular season.
While the NBA has new rules in place to prevent teams and players from managing loads, James is exempt due to his age and experience, so the Lakers can sit him out at any time to stay fresh and healthy.
James appears in NBA general manager survey
While the Lakers as a whole, and Anthony Davis in particular, were left out of the 2023-24 edition of the NBA General Manager Survey, James found himself at or near the top of several categories, including highest IQ and best leader .
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