Lakers News: LeBron James Discusses Time Off & How He Felt In Return
Yesterday at 01:05 PM
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James returned to the lineup on Sunday night against the Memphis Grizzlies after missing the team’s last two games. James had gone into the season with the goal of playing all 82 games, but it was clear after a three-game losing streak that he was not going to be able to hold up playing in every single game.
Luckily for James, the Emirates NBA Cup broke up the Lakers’ schedule and made it so that missing two games gave him a full eight days off. He missed last Sunday’s bout against the Portland Trail Blazers and Friday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and looked back to his usual self on Sunday against the Grizzlies.
LeBron finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and was happy to be back in the lineup after getting a relatively uncommon opportunity in the middle of the regular season.
“I felt pretty good,” LeBron said. “It’s very rare throughout a course of a season where you can take advantage of a schedule, and I was able to do that over the past week."
The Lakers star felt an issue in his foot after the team’s overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks last weekend, leading to the decision to take time off with the gap in the schedule.
“Prior to Saturday after the [Atlanta] Hawks game, felt it. Felt my foot, felt my body,” James added. “After that Hawks game, after that last road trip, I did my pre-game workout on that Sunday for the Portland [Trail Blazers] game and decided that it was probably best that I probably take that game off, and then looking forward to the schedule. We didn’t play again until Friday in Minnesota. But if I had the opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted to be for tonight. And it worked out.”
James was extremely grateful to have the ability to take that long of a stretch off in the middle of the season while only missing two games.
“I mean, it’s very rare,” James said. “I mean, to be honest, you can get a break in the schedule like that, so it was a very easy decision for myself and for the team and for my trainer to be able to take advantage of those days, just for everything. And so it was great."
But, of course, James didn’t use that time specifically to rest. It was more a chance to get his body right without having to go through the rigors of playing in a 48-minute game.
“A lot of rehabbing, a lot of training still; I made sure that I was ready to go tonight, so I didn’t want to get too much out of shape.”
And while James’ original plan of playing all 82 games was still at the forefront of his mind, he had to listen to some trusted and his own body to decide to break that and take some time off.
“I listen to more than just myself because if it was just up to me, I probably would have played in that Portland game, and I’m not sure if I’d have played in a Minnesota game, but it’d been hard to keep me away from it. So I have a team, and I gotta listen to them as well. They look out for my the best interest."
The Lakers and their star player have to be very intentional about the way they approach the regular season. They are certainly a more competitive team with him in the lineup, but if he had tried to play in all 82 games, that wouldn’t have been in James’ best interest or the team’s.
It will be interesting to see James’ game-to-game plan moving forward, but luckily the Lakers have another three days off before their next outing.
Lakers and LeBron James communicating about workload
Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke about the time that LeBron James took off over the last week and said that, while he appreciated the superstar for wanting to play in all 82, it made sense for him to do that. Moving forward, he and the Lakers will be in constant communication with LeBron and his team to figure out the best plan.
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