The Los Angeles Lakers won’t have LeBron James when the team takes on the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, but it doesn’t sound like a serious issue. James was downgraded to out for Sunday’s game as he manages a foot injury, per ESPN.
The move comes as the Lakers are set to play back-to-back days.
James, who missed the team’s first 14 games due to sciatica, has performed well in his return, but has yet to take part in back-to-back games. The Lakers sitting James on Sunday may be part of the 40-year-old’s recovery process. It’s also possible the Lakers are just giving James a day of rest so he’s fresh for Monday’s game against the Phoenix Suns.
The latter makes sense, as the Lakers may not need James to defeat the 3-17 Pelicans. At 12-9, the Suns present a tougher matchup. Having James available for that game could make a difference for the Lakers.
James has seen some decline in his numbers during his first four games of the regular season. The 23-year veteran is averaging a career-low 16.5 points in four games. With Luka Dončić playing at a high level and Austin Reaves taking a big step forward, however, the Lakers haven’t needed James to carry the offensive load. His field-goal attempts are down to a career-low 6.5 so far, so it’s possible he still has plenty left in the tank, but hasn’t felt compelled to take over games yet.
Additionally, four games is an extremely small sample and James did drop 25 points in one of those games, so there’s no reason for concern yet.
With Dončić, Reaves and now James, the Lakers find themselves at 14-4, good for second place in the Western Conference. If the team can keep this up, James may have one more championship run in him before he calls it quits.
It’s unclear when that will happen. Despite his age, James has made no announcements related to retirement. For this season, at least, he’s focused on leading the Lakers to another title.
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