LOS ANGELES — LeBron James said he was feeling “pretty good” after returning to the Lakers for their home win over the Memphis Grizzlies following a week-long absence.
And the benefits of his time off were evident, too.
But the Lakers star also acknowledged that the left foot soreness that kept him sidelined for two games isn’t fully behind him.
James returned on Sunday after missing the Dec. 8 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers and Friday’s road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves because of the left foot ailment – giving him eight full days between games after previously last playing in the Dec. 6 road loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
“It’s very rare throughout the course of a season where you can take advantage of a schedule,” James said. “I was able to do that over the past week.”
After the win over the Blazers, which James sat on the bench for, the 39-year-old star forward was away from the team for personal reasons and had excused absences for Wednesday’s practice and the trip to Minneapolis.
He added that he needed to be convinced to take time away from the team to address his left foot ailment.
“If it was up to just me, I probably would’ve played,” said James, who turns 40 later this month. “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 discussions to take some time off came after the loss to the Hawks, which James entered as questionable. He played that game, recording 39 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals in a season-high 43 minutes.
“Felt my foot, felt my body after the Hawks game, after that last road trip. Did my pregame workout on that Sunday for the Portland game and decided that it was probably best that I take that game off. And then looking forward to the schedule, we didn’t play again until Friday in Minnesota. I had an opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be for tonight. And it worked out.”
James used the time to do “a lot of rehabbing, a lot of training still to make sure that I was ready to go [on Sunday]. Didn’t want to get [too out] of shape.”
His renewed energy was palpable, especially early.
A few minutes into the first quarter, James had an emphatic dunk in transition, had a chase-down block against Desmond Bane and then tipped in a putback layup during a 20-second stretch to give the Lakers an early lead.
His energy was most felt defensively with his communication. James finished with 18 points (7-of-17 shooting, 3 of 6 on 3-pointers), eight rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said he will try to find opportunities for rest for James without him needing to sit out entire games.
“Not necessarily less minutes, but shorter runs so that he’s not getting gassed and then quicker segments on the bench and then he’s back in,” Redick said.
James will be managing his left foot even after returning.
“It’s an everyday thing, it’s not behind me,” James said. “It’s been lingering for the last few years, but I was able to do a lot of great things to reassure not only that, but I got kneed in the quad in the Atlanta game at the end of regulation by [Anthony Davis], that’s now back to 100%. Probably three days ago it was still pretty sore. But I’m able to get that back to 100, so that was great, so I was able to hit a lot of other elements as well.”
Editor’s note: This is from the Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, edition of the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from reporter Khobi Price. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.