Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, who will miss the start of the season due to sciatica on his right side, suffered the injury a little over two months ago.
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ESPN’s Shams Charania shared on NBA Today that James’ injury first occurred around ‘late July, early August.’
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“This injury for LeBron [James], this nerve issue, first occurred in late July, early August during an on-court workout,” said Charania. “It’s now two and a half months and counting that he’s had to deal with it and manage it. Even before the Lakers media day on September 29 and the start of training camp, I’m told LeBron James had not done much basketball for well over a month prior to that.
“It has not been a normal, routine summer for him. He’s a creature of habit, the way he maintains his body. For him to be out to start the season and miss his first-ever opening night, it shows an admission by him and the Lakers that he needs more time to ramp up, get into basketball shape that he is accustomed to; he’s not there yet,” added Charania.
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The Lakers will be without their superstar forward to start the season, and an approximate timeline for a return is unclear. All that is clear is that he will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks.
James, who will enter his 23rd season and his eighth with the Lakers, has been phenomenal on the court, even though he is the oldest player in the league.
The soon-to-be 41-year-old is coming off a season in which he averaged 24.4 points per game, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from three in 70 games and 34.9 minutes of action.
James will not play over 70 games this season, as he could miss roughly 14 games, assuming all goes well. The best-case scenario is that James misses less than a quarter of the season and returns to the lineup by mid-November.
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