{"id":282822,"date":"2025-11-14T00:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/282822\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T00:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:14:10","slug":"sources-lebron-james-practices-with-g-league-affiliate-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/282822\/","title":{"rendered":"Sources: LeBron James practices with G League affiliate again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dave McMenaminNov 14, 2025, 10:48 AM<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
\nCovered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.<\/p>\n

LeBron James<\/a> practiced with the G League’s South Bay Lakers again Thursday and did not experience any residual effects from Wednesday’s workout, sources told ESPN, an encouraging sign after James’ first 5-on-5 play since the first round of the playoffs, more than six months ago.<\/p>\n

James, who turns 41 next month, missed all of training camp and the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>‘ first 12 games of the season while recovering from sciatica — nerve pain affecting his lower back and down the right side of his body.<\/p>\n

James is practicing with the G League affiliate while the Lakers are finishing a five-game road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> on Friday and Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

A source present for Wednesday’s practice told ESPN the workout was “intense” as James prepares to become the first player in NBA history to suit up for a 23rd season.<\/p>\n

In Thursday’s practice, run by South Bay coach Zach Guthrie, James was a full participant once again, sources said, and was able to complete the five-on-five live portion without any lingering pain or soreness in his lower back or right side.<\/p>\n

The Lakers plan to hold a practice Monday in El Segundo, California, after the road trip, and James could join them, sources said, if he continues to progress through the weekend. L.A. hosts the Utah Jazz<\/a> on Tuesday and doesn’t play again until Sunday, on the road against the Jazz.<\/p>\n

In other South Bay news, the team acquired Kobe Bufkin in a trade with the Motor City Cruise in exchange for a 2027 first-round pick in the G League draft.<\/p>\n

Bufkin, a 6-foot-5 guard, was selected with the No. 15 pick in the 2023 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks<\/a>. South Bay waived guard Jace Carter in a related move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave McMenaminNov 14, 2025, 10:48 AM CloseLakers and NBA reporter for ESPN. Covered the Lakers and NBA for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-282822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}