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The Los Angeles Lakers will not have four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James on the court when they take on the Sacrament Kings Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
James is listed as questionable on the NBA's latest injury report at the time of this writing, but Dave McMenamin of ESPN has also reported that the superstar forward will not play versus Sacramento due to illness.
“LeBron James will miss Saturday’s game against SAC with an illness, sources told ESPN. It will be his third missed game of the season. The illness kept James out of Friday’s practice, too.”
With James sidelined, the Lakers will not have arguably their best weapon against the Kings. Los Angeles is on the verge of sweeping the Kings in the regular-season series between these two Pacific division rivals, as the Lakers won their first three meetings in the 2024-25 NBA regular season versus Sacramento. James played in all those games and averaged a team-best 27.7 points on a 49.3 percent shooting from the field, 9.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists while seeing 34.1 minutes of action.
James and the Lakers enter this meeting with the Kings on the heels of an unforgettable 115-113 victory over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco on Christmas Day. James, who will be turning 40 years old on Monday, looked and moved well versus the Dubs, scoring 31 points on 12-for-22 shooting from the field while also generating a total of 10 assists, four boards, two steals and a block in 37 minutes of floor duty.
James' next chance to play will be on Tuesday versus his old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, this coming Tuesday.
It is also worth noting that the Lakers will be the first test for the Kings since they parted ways with Mike Brown. This will also be Sacramento's first game with Doug Christie as the team's interim head coach.
