LeBron James has missed the Lakers' last two games, but the fact that he’s not around the team and no one seems sure when he’ll return makes it an odd situation
For the second consecutive game on Friday, the Lakers were without LeBron James, which is not odd as he has certainly rested and missed time due to injury in recent seasons.
However, in those moments, LeBron still sat on the sidelines, cheering his team on. Friday, though, was an exception. After missing practice on Wednesday due to “personal reasons,” LeBron wasn’t with the team on Friday.
Prior to the game, head coach JJ Redick was asked if he knew when LeBron would return to the team, to which he replied he did not.
JJ Redick responded "no" when asked whether he knows when LeBron James will rejoin the team.
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) December 13, 2024
This all feels weird.
The most likely and obvious reasoning for all this is that, with an odd break in the schedule, the Lakers opted to let LeBron get an extended rest that he wouldn’t otherwise be afforded. Whether that means returning for Sunday’s home game against the Grizzlies or giving him nearly two full weeks off before playing at the Kings next Thursday, it would be a lengthy time to rest and recover that isn’t typically available.
However, this also comes at a time when trade speculation has come up. If it was basically entirely created by ESPN without any real reporting, the fact LeBron hasn’t been around just further adds fuel to the fire.
It also comes shortly after LeBron looked truly gassed on the Lakers road trip, made some mental mistakes in the loss in Atlanta and spoke recently about retirement in a postgame presser. Again, this could all be a coincidence with nothing to it, but without LeBron around, it leads to baseless speculation.
And if there was a simple answer to this, why wouldn’t the Lakers communicate it? Perhaps they are skirting the NBA’s new rules about load management and rest. The league hasn’t been shy in handing out hefty fines. If the Lakers are looking to avoid a fine for letting LeBron rest for a week or more, citing “personal reasons” while being tight-lipped about it would be the way to do it.
For now, it’s an odd situation that probably has a logical answer to it. But the further it drags on, the more odd it becomes.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
