LeBron James Ruled Out of Lakers' Game vs. Nuggets

LeBron James will miss his first game of the season as he deals with a thoracic muscle strain.

LeBron James will miss his first game of the 2019-20 season after being ruled out of the Lakers' matchup against the Nuggets on Sunday. 

James has been dealing with a thoracic muscle strain, which coach Frank Vogel said occurred in Los Angeles' loss to the Pacers on Tuesday night. James then played through the injury in the team's loss against the Bucks on Thursday.

James played 37 minutes and registered his seventh triple-double of the season against Milwaukee.

After playing in a career-low 55 games last year, the 15-time All-Star had not missed a contest this season prior to Sunday.

James is scoring 25.8 points per game, his lowest mark since the 2015-16 season, but is averaging a career-high 10.6 assists.

The Lakers are 24-5 on the season, the second-best record in the NBA. Alex Caruso, Quinn Cook and Rajon Rondo will likely assume more of the ball-handling duties in James's stead.