Lakers News: LeBron James’ Availability For Rest Of Preseason Revealed

The King provides the update.
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Lakers star LeBron James has already said that he won’t play in the teams’ preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors, but he could see the court soon after. James wants to play in the preseason, likely to get himself ramped up for the new year, and to start building more chemistry with the guys on the team.

LA did bring back most of the core from last season, but they did add in some new guys to help bolster their depth. So, any game action together before the season kicks off, the better for the Lakers.

"Six preseason games, so hopefully I can get to at least half of them," James said after practice Thursday. "But we'll see. I think every game will dictate it. I will not be playing in Saturday's game, that's for sure, in the Bay. But we'll see after that."

Per LeBron James via ESPN.com

James will be entering his 21st NBA season, so the team will also be making sure that they don’t put too much on him early on. They need him healthy for the entire year, especially come playoff time.

Head coach Darvin Ham gave an update on the health of James, and it’s great news for Lakers fans.

"He's 100 percent healthy," Ham said of James on Wednesday. "He looks fine. He looks like third- or fourth-year LeBron."

Per Darvin Ham via ESPN.com

LA will be cautious with James in the preseason, but having him get a feel for the court is a great thing. They know how to manage him at this point, and will continue to ease him into things.

"Just kind of easing into it," Ham said of the plan for James. "The fact that our roster is what it is, he doesn't have to come start the season with his cape on, so to speak. ... The help that he has around him will allow him to not have to be full throttle in every practice and every preseason game."

Per Darvin Ham via ESPN.com

For the Lakers to ultimately be successful this year, they will need James on the court. He is their most valuable player, and even in his advanced age, he is still one of the best players in the NBA.

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Matt Levine
MATT LEVINE

Matt earned a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from Louisiana State University in 2021. He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, covering all Southern California sports in his career.