LeBron James Closed Out His Preseason. The 39-year-old Los Angeles Lakers Superstar has a week to rest before the regular season begins Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
James missed his first preseason game Thursday against the Phoenix Suns and will sit out again Friday for the Lakers’ final preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, a source close to his plans said.
TNT’s Jared Greenberg first reported James’ plans on the Lakers-Suns broadcast.
James will enter his 22nd season, which equals Vince Carter’s team record for the most seasons in league history.
“DNP-old,” Lakers coach JJ Redick questioned why James was rested during his pre-game comments Thursday. “Taking it from [Gregg Popovich’s] book.”
Redick recalled how the San Antonio Spurs coach described a 36-year-old Tim Duncan as “old” and therefore unable to play, which was during his team’s playing of three games in four nights in the latter stages of his 2013-14 season.
James averaged 12 points, 46.9 overall shooting percentage (57.1 in three-point range), 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 3.0 turnovers in 18.5 minutes per game as the Lakers closed out the preseason with a 1-2 record. Redick wanted to take Thursday for extra practice and rest Friday on the second game of a back-to-back in San Francisco. He changed that, however when James and Rui Hachimura (calf tightness) set out against the Suns.
“I think you have to consider all the factors, and you do not always have the ability to play in a perfect world in this league, and that’s okay,” Redick said. “You can’t always do things exactly how you want in this league, and that’s okay. We had a practice today, which included a game-day shoot-around and a film session. We’ll do the same before our game. This is the first time we’ve done that all preseason.”
“So, we have still been able to do some things we wanted to do.”