"James is "trending in the right direction," coach JJ Redick said before Tuesday's game, which will mark the beginning of James' NBA-record 23rd season. The 40-year-old missed the beginning of a season for the first time in his NBA career after starting to feel discomfort in his right side this summer."
""He's smart enough and [there's] enough carry over from last year, both with personnel and with our schemes, that I think it'll be easy for him to be integrated right away," Redick said."
"James said after practice Monday he was not yet pain-free, but he has been able to manage the nerve injury enough to progress through practices with the G League team, the full NBA squad and then Tuesday's shootaround. James said dealing with sciatica came with unexpected challenges. He often could only hope he wouldn't feel pain when he woke up in the morning or when he went to sleep."
LeBron James will make his season debut Tuesday after missing the Lakers' first 14 games with sciatica. He missed all of training camp and the preseason after experiencing right-side discomfort this summer. The Lakers opened 10-4 without him while Luka Doncic emerged as the team's leading scorer and Austin Reaves began a strong season. Prior months playing together should ease James' integration. James is not yet pain-free but has managed the nerve injury enough to work through G League and full-team practices and a shootaround. The team views managing his health as uncharted territory and plans ongoing conversations and scheduled rest as needed.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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