LeBron James did not participate in the Lakers’ first day of training camp Tuesday because of nerve irritation in the glute.
James teammates Marcus Smart, Gabe Vincent and Adou Thiero were under either return to play protocols or modified protocols during the teams first sessions.
James is entering his NBA-record 23rd season and the goal is to ramp him up to be ready for the regular-season opener Oct. 21 against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.
Yeah, I think its probably a little bit longer of a ramp-up leading into opening night for him just obviously in Year 23, its uncharted territory here, Lakers coach JJ Redick said. So, I felt, and in talking with performance and in talking with Mike (Mancias, James personal trainer) and LeBron, like probably did too much last year in camp, which was great for me as a first-year head coach to get buy-in from him.
But itll be a slower process with him leading into the first game. Hes obviously got 22 years so far of wear and tear on the body and hes dealing with a little bit of nerve irritation in the glute. So, were just playing the long game with LeBron.
Redick said Vincent was just modified and the hope is that hell play in the preseason game Friday against the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert.
He should be good to go live by the end of the week and we expect him to be able to play Friday, Redick said. And thats just, again, the management of, as we did last year as well.
Smart could be seen shooting after practice, but the Lakers are taking it slow with him as well.
Marcus, hes dealing with a little bit of Achilles’ tendinopathy, Redick said. Hes been in a slow ramp-up. He was a modified participant, nothing live today. Hes expected to be fine by the end of the week.
Thiero said Monday that he still has some swelling in his left knee that kept him out playing in the summer league in Las Vegas and has slowed his time on the court since then.
Redick said Thiero was running, cutting and jumping with coaches, but that they will take it slow with him.
Its really about playing the long game with him, Redick said. We look at this year as a developmental year and theres no reason for us to push his body and create a long-term problem. His knee is in a really good spot. We just want to be really careful.
Redick said, thats the goal, when asked if James will be ready to play in the season opener.
James, 40, has played 71,104 minutes over his career, including the playoffs.
Youll hear me use this a lot: it is unchartered territory, Redick said. I dont think theres a proven way to handle someone who has this much mileage, this many minutes, been asked to do so many things on both ends of the court. We asked a lot of him last year, we asked a lot of him to start the year in camp, so its just working as a partnership and trying to figure it out.
Even with James not practicing, Austin Reaves said it wont be a problem for the three leaders to find ways to make it smooth for their teammates.
Along with James and Luka Doncic, Reaves is viewed as one of the Lakers’ stars and he says James always is engaged even when he doesnt practice.
Yeah, just communication, Reaves said. To have good dialogue back and forth, what everybody likes, what we can do to be successful. With him being one of the highest IQ guys to ever play the game, I think its not that hard to piece it in even if hes not out there right now, He sees the game just as good as anybody that has ever played the game. So, like I said, its having conversations, dialogue back and forth what we feel like we can do to help our team be successful is going to be, I think, key.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.