The best way for the Los Angeles Lakers to help LeBron James keep playing at a high level into his 21st season of a long and successful career is to add ability around him instead of cutting his playing time.
“Bron, he does a great job taking care of himself,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham stated at a news conference on Thursday, ahead of the start of L.A.’s training camp next week. “The team that’s around him now, the pieces that we have in place, those guys are going to step up and do a lot of heavy lifting early.”
LeBron James, who will be 39 in December, averaged 35.5 minutes per game last season. This was a little less than the 37.2 minutes per game he played in 2021-22, but it was still more than he played in any of his first three seasons with the Lakers. James was still important, as he averaged 28.9 points on 50% shooting, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, but he missed 27 games because of a torn tendon in his right foot.
Even though James’s general game hasn’t changed much since he joined the Lakers, his body has sometimes let him down. He’s only missed 71 games in his first 15 years in the league, but he’s missed 111 games in the last five years because of injuries.
After the Lakers were eliminated from the Western Conference finals, Rob Pelinka, the VP of basketball operations and GM, commended James for his dedication and mindset during the offseason. The playoffs came to a disappointing conclusion for the Lakers.
“It’s staggering for a player who has 20 years under the hood already and is preparing for 21 like he’s a rookie,” Pelinka said. “He’s been doing 6 a.m. workouts. Probably been in our building as much as any player this offseason. Been in the weight room as much as any player. Any team LeBron’s played for, it’s been pretty uniform that his work sets the tone.
“There has been nothing but an increase in seeing that here. To me, it’s let’s be about it, let’s not talk about it. He’s definitely been about it this offseason.”
Pelinka kept most of the team’s core from last season together by getting Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt to sign new contracts. L.A. signed 27-year-old guard Gabe Vincent, 29-year-old forward Taurean Prince, 28-year-old big man Christian Wood, 23-year-old center Jaxson Hayes, and 24-year-old swingman Cam Reddish to fill out the rest of its lineup with young, athletic, and good shooters.
The Lakers also got two new players. Jalen Hood-Schifino, who is 20 and from Indiana, and Maxwell Lewis, who is 21 and from Pepperdine, are both rookies.
“We have to partner with [James] to help him get all the way to the end [of the season healthy], because that’s his goal,” Pelinka said. “And so I think adding the depth we have, the versatility, the shooting, all those things are going to help us manage that.”
Ham made a joke that James shouldn’t have to follow the NBA’s new rule about resting, which punishes healthy players who miss games to get a night off.
“He was grandfathered in by the rest rules,” Ham said.
The Lakers coach, who is in his second year, also said that he will look at the team’s 82-game schedule from a long-term perspective to find ways for James to lighten his load.
“Big picture, month-to-month, different sections in the calendar,” Ham said.
Ham and Pelinka both agreed with the new rest policy, but the Lakers executive came up with what he thinks is a better idea.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about, [with] our competition committee, is [if] can we eliminate back-to-back [games],” Pelinka said. “That’s something that we would support. Can we eliminate them completely?”
This season, the Lakers have 15 sets of back-to-back games. Last season, they only had 12.
After last season’s success, James, Davis, and Reaves are clear starters. However, Ham said Thursday that Russell will return as the team’s main ball handler after being benched in the Denver game.
“He’s our starting point guard,” Ham said. “I’m going to encourage him to be assertive. He’s a highly intelligent basketball player who’s coming back with a chip on his shoulder. He chose us, we believe in him, and he’s one of those guys who has a ton of pride and passion about not only his individual performance but those of his teammates as well.
“He’s another one who’s going to have an outstanding season.”
