LeBron James was pleased with his own performance in the Los Angeles Lakers' opening night loss to the Denver Nuggets.

In his 21st season opener in the NBA, LeBron led the Lakers with 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting. He added eight rebounds and five assists.

“Besides the fact that we didn't win, I think for me, my performance and what I did individually in the time that I was out there, I think I was productive. I think so. I mean, I was a plus-7 for the game. No turnovers. I like the no turnovers more than anything.”

Inconveniently, LeBron was limited to 29 minutes of action — down from the 35.5 he averaged in 2022-23.

“I always want to be on the floor,” he said postgame. “Especially when you got an opportunity to win a game or you feel like you can make an impact. But this is the system in place and I'm going to follow it.”

Before the end of his press conference, LeBron clarified that he didn't feel any type of way about the workload, which had been decided in advance.

 

Darvin Ham disclosed that, “in all likelihood”, LeBron will play about 30 minutes per game this season, which would be a career-low (by far) for the four-time MVP.

“It's going to be a day-by-day process, gauging how he's feeling, get communication from him, our training staff, our medical staff,” said Ham.

LeBron was deployed in four-to-five-minute stretches on Tuesday, until checking back in with 6:04 to go in the fourth quarter.

“It's easy with him to get caught up in the emotion of the game and you tend to forget you want to play these long stretches, added Ham. “But in order for him to be as effective as possible, we have to be mindful of the minute output and how long his stretches are.”

It's October. It's one loss. LeBron's 33.3 usage rate and general workload last season — during which he missed 27 games for various maladies, including a torn foot tendon — is unsustainable.

The concerning takeaway for the Lakers' from opening night was not his lack of burn, but rather the lack of production around him. Rob Pelinka's roster-building approach was premised on easing the burden on the soon-to-be-39-year-old. That may end up manifesting — perhaps as soon as Thursday's home opener against the potent Phoenix Suns — but it certainly wasn't the case against the defending champs. Anthony Davis went scoreless in the second half. Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura combined to shoot 11-for-33. The old man is gonna need more help than that.