LeBron James reveals it wasn’t his decision to step away from the Los Angeles Lakers for a long break, which saw him miss two games after initially saying he planned to play all 82 regular-season games.
“If it was up to just me, I probably would’ve played,” James told reporters of the two games he missed during his eight-day break. “It would’ve been hard to keep me away from it. I have a team and I got to listen to them as well. They look out for my best interest.”
The 39-year-old James returned with aplomb on Sunday, December 15, producing a near triple-double to help the Lakers beat the surging Memphis Grizzlies 116-110 at Crypto.com Arena.
James had 18 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two blocks in 34 minutes.
“I had an opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be for tonight,” James continued. “And it worked out.”
‘LeBron Is Not Done’
Austin Reaves, who added 19 points and eight assists in his second game back from a five-game layoff due to a left pelvic contusion, summed up James’ return with a solid quote at the beginning of his post-game presser.
“LeBron is not done,” Reaves told reporters.
James’ triumphant return marked only the Grizzlies’ second loss in their last 12 games.
With renewed energy, James set the tone for the Lakers’ wire-to-wire victory with a one-handed dunk two minutes and 40 seconds into the game. Then James made his signature chase-down block on Desmond Bane’s layup attempt on the other end. His tip-in off Rui Hachimura’s miss gave the Lakers a 9-2 lead and they never looked back.
The lead ballooned to as many as 23 points before the Grizzlies made a last-ditch rally after Anthony Davis went out with a shoulder injury.
Davis shrugged off the pain as he delivered 40 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in a monster performance to preserve the Lakers’ second victory over their last three games.
Lakers coach JJ Redick labeled Davis’ injury as a “stinger.”
Worst Net Rating of LeBron’s Career
James made three of his four shots. He ended up shooting 7-of-17 from the floor and still committed a team-high five turnovers. But the Lakers were not outscored in James’ minutes, which had been an issue for the team this season.
His -3.8 net rating this season is the worst of his career.
The Lakers’ elimination from the NBA Cup allowed James to take the long break.
“I felt pretty good,” James told reporters. “It’s very rare throughout the course of a season where you can take advantage of a schedule and I was able to do that over the past week.
James said after his triple-double in an overtime loss in Atlanta on December 6, he felt something was off.
“I felt it — my foot and my body — after that,” James told reporters. “I did my pregame workout on that Sunday for the Portland 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 till Friday in Minnesota.”
James also skipped the Minnesota trip, which resulted in a 97-87 loss for the Lakers. But it gave the Lakers superstar, who will turn 40 on December 30, an additional two-day rest.
James said he tried to stay in game shape as much as possible for the past week while he was away from the team.
“A lot of rehabbing, a lot of training still to make sure that I was ready to go tonight,” James told reporters. “Didn’t want to get too much out of shape.”
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