LeBron James joined a long list of NBA stars unavailable to start the 2025-26 regular season.
The Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday, per The Athletic’s Dan Woike and multiple reports, that James will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks with sciatica on his right side. He’s thus expected to miss their season-opener against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
James sat out training camp due to nerve irritation in his glute. Head coach JJ Redick called the 40-year-old’s recovery a “slower process” on Sept. 30, saying that he felt the league’s all-time leading scorer did too much last training camp.
After the Lakers revealed the injury, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin said LeBron’s camp urged the team to be “overly cautious” in hopes of the superstar being ready for a possible championship push. Redick told reporters Thursday, via LakersNation’s Daniel Starkand, that James is “on his own timeline.”
Remarkably durable throughout his career, James is 50 games away from passing Robert Parish as the NBA’s all-time leader in games played. He missed considerable time with a foot injury in 2022-23 but has since played 70 games in 2023-24 and 70 last season.
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The four-time NBA champion continued to play at a high level, averaging 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game during his 22nd season. Los Angeles got eliminated in the first round for the second straight postseason, but the 17-time champions hope to make a bigger splash in the Western Conference with a full year from Luka Doncic.
Based on the three-to-four-week timetable, James will miss at least five games before he’s re-evaluated. The future Hall of Famer could sit out longer, but he could return before the Lakers play the Boston Celtics on Dec. 5.