Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James will miss the start of the 2025-26 NBA season as a result of sciatica on his right side, the team announced Thursday afternoon.
James, 40, is on the verge of entering his historic 23rd season in the NBA but will be forced to miss the start of the year with his team because of this mysterious side/glute injury. The Lakers say he won't be reevaluated again for three to four weeks.
Sciatica is pain, weakness, and sometime numbness experienced as a result of damage or injury to the sciatic nerve. LeBron has been held out of training camp and all the Lakers' preseason as a result of what was being described as “nerve irritation in the glute.”
While the Lakers have been cautious with their veteran star throughout the preseason, the expectation and hope was that he would be ready to go for their season opener on October 21 against the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, James will not only miss all of the team's preseason warm-ups, but the earliest he will make his season debut is at the start of November.
This is the first time in James' career that he will miss the opening game of a season.
When questioned about his star's status earlier on Thursday at the team's practice, head coach JJ Redick hesitated before claiming that LeBron is “on his own timeline.” The Lakers coach did not provide any timeframe for when James would begin ramping up his basketball activities.
Throughout the preseason, the message from Los Angeles regarding LeBron has been clear: they won't risk him being injured or fatigued at the beginning of the 2025-26 season, and the team will consistently be cautious when it comes to his workload.
This precedent is already in full effect as James will miss at least the first two weeks of the new season.
In LeBron's absence, Luka Doncic will be the lone featured star on the court for the Lakers. Along with Doncic, Austin Reaves will be tasked with doing the heavy lifting for Los Angeles through the early portion of the new year.
Redick will also turn to Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton, and Jake LaRavia as the team's newest additions to provide extra firepower on either end of the court without James available.
It is worth noting that Doncic and Smart have not played in the preseason with the team being overly cautious.
Last season, James continued to prove he was one of the best players in the NBA, averaging 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the floor in 70 appearances.
The team will provide further updates on James' health by the end of October.
