Lakers’ Ham Doesn’t Think LeBron James Would ‘Allow’ Team to Shut Him Down

The Lakers coach discussed the prospect of ever shutting James down for an extended period of rest.

Lakers coach Darvin Ham was asked whether the idea of shutting star forward LeBron James for rest until after the all-star break had been discussed internally.

Ham gave a pretty honest response, rooted in the nature of James’s work ethic that has made him one of the best players of all-time.

“No, I don’t think he’d allow us to do that,” Ham said.

James has been nursing a sore foot that will keep him out of Saturday night’s tilt with the Warriors in primetime. The Warriors, of course, will be missing a star of their own in Steph Curry who is out indefinitely due to a knee injury.

• Get your seats for Los Angeles Lakers games at SI Tickets

As for James, all imaging has come back clean on his foot, which has been coined on the injury report as “left ankle soreness” for a majority of the season. Despite being listed on the injury report for the last 35 games, James has only been held out of play seven times due to the injury.

Ham noted that the team will continue to monitor the foot of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. 

However, it seems likely that the 38-year-old James will only be more motivated to get out and play as the team battles for a playoff spot with a revamped roster.