LeBron James and Anthony Davis just watched from the sidelines when the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the court for their two preseason games against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Since this offseason is regarded the shortest turnaround in NBA history, the Lakers are expected to rest their two best players to keep them fresh before the 2020-21 season opener. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, however, made it clear that The King and The Brow will still suit up in the team's remaining preseason matches.
Vogel on LeBron and AD: “When we start (regular season) games, those guys will be ready to go.”
Vogel said it’s been a balance of working them hard in practice and not pushing them too far too fast after the uniquely short offseason (Game 6 of the Finals was Oct. 11).
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 13, 2020
LeBron James and Anthony Davis will likely play in the final two preseason games against the Suns in Phoenix next week, according to Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 14, 2020
The 2020 champions will take on the Phoenix Suns in back-to-back games before their regular season encounter with the Clips on December 22. The pandemic has forced the league to come up with a compartmentalized schedule for 2020-21, which is a huge blow for the Lakers who only had 70 days to rest after conquering the bubble.
The Purple and Gold, however, still took care of their rival Clippers last Friday, even with LeBron and AD just cheering from the sidelines.
The NBA brass, meanwhile, has also made it clear that they will penalize teams who will excessively employ load management to its players. This could be tricky for LA, considering James will be entering his 18th season. The 35-year-old superstar, however, has shown no signs of slowing down. The same goes for Davis, who has dealt with a lot of injuries over the course of his career.
Frank Vogel, on the other hand, likely just wants his two best players to get some reps before the start of another full season grind. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will most likely play limited minutes, but it will be fun to see them back together as soon as possible.
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