![\"LeBron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262818964-e1771762338275.jpg\")
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LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on prior to their game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on February 20, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. <\/p>\n
Veteran Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> forward LeBron James missed the start of an NBA season for the first time this season, in his record-breaking 23rd campaign.<\/p>\n To rehab from his sciatica injury, the 41-year-old practiced discipline by giving up alcohol and desserts for nearly two months \u2014 a sacrifice Caitlin Clark can\u2019t relate to. While reacting to James\u2019 comments, Clark joked that she\u2019d \u201crather retire\u201d<\/a> than give up her beloved chocolate chip cookies, calling James \u201cHim\u201d for his ability to abstain.<\/p>\n James understands why a 23-year-old Clark, just entering the prime of her career, would be unwilling to take the extreme route in her rehab. But he also acknowledges that the Indiana Fever star would go to any lengths to prolong her blossoming career.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it started, I don\u2019t know. But it\u2019s been there for quite a while and she\u2019s (Caitlin Clark) disciplined as well,\u201d James said on Friday, via Lakers beat writer Ryan Ward.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI guarantee if she had to give up something in order to get her back on the floor, she\u2019ll do it as well,\u201d added the NBA\u2019s all-time points leader.<\/p>\n LeBron James on Caitlin Clark recognizing his discipline and the origin of it: \u201cWhen it started, I don\u2019t know. But it\u2019s been there for quite a while and she\u2019s (Caitlin Clark) disciplined as well. I guarantee if she had to give up something in order to get her back on the floor,<\/p>\n LeBron James Praises Caitlin Clark<\/p>\n James delved further into why he had to give up a few of his vices to recover from an obvious Father Time injury that sidelined him for the first 14 games of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, it is just part of my, it\u2019s part of my make-up, to know that I can knock out things and lock in on,\u201d said James, who admittedly loved \u201cthe challenge\u201d<\/a> of going without alcohol and desserts for nearly two months.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was one of the moments just being able to take things out that I love. I\u2019m not gonna say like it\u2019s the reason why I came back or whatever the case may be, but just being able to be disciplined like that and try to get my body in the best possible shape, give my body the best possible chance to recover when that was going on, when I wasn\u2019t playing and things of that nature.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, when I was trying to come back, I would say that.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakers Gain Momentum<\/p>\n James\u2019 early-season sacrifices are paying dividends for both him and the Lakers, as JJ Redick\u2019s squad has found its stride in recent weeks. The Lakers improved to an NBA-best 16-3 in clutch<\/a> time scenarios with their 125-122 win over the Clippers on Friday.<\/p>\n With the Lakers finally whole again, Redick believes his team has the momentum to finish the season on a high and possibly secure a top-three seed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just the situation we\u2019re in,\u201d Redick said of the Lakers having Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic and James for only 10 games prior to Friday\u2019s win.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not the only team that has had a bunch of health issues throughout the season and had to manage that, but my message to the players this morning was that this is going to be a sprint for these last 28 games.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lakers (34-21) will next host their historic rivals, the Boston Celtics<\/a> (36-19), in a blockbuster matinee clash on Sunday.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Lakers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on prior to their game against the Los…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-497425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497425","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=497425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}