LOS ANGELES – This past week was saw a bit of a role reversal for the Los Angeles Lakers in a bit of a humorous way. Not only did Bronny James get his first career start, but LeBron James was assigned to the South Bay Lakers in the G League for practice reps as he nears a return to the court.
LeBron James joined South Bay this past week for two practice sessions, and is expected to be a full participant during Lakers practice on Monday. Meanwhile, the Lakers grabbed a solid road win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday with Bronny staring at point guard due to Marcus Smart being out with an illness.
The Lakers recalled James from the G League on Sunday morning hours before South Bay’s next game against the Rip City Remix. Even with no James in the lineup, South Bay grabbed a 113-111 win over Rip City, and afterwards head coach Zach Guthrie reflected on having the future Hall of Famer at practice this week.
“To have the greatest player of all time join your practice, first and foremost what an opportunity for each and every one of us to be a part of it. To just be a small part of his journey, his 23rd season, getting him back to health and getting him back to playing. . .is an unbelievable experience and something unbelievable for me as I’m typing up my practice plan to type in LeBron James is pretty crazy,” Guthrie said. “And for all our guys, an unbelievable experience.”
“And I thought the biggest thing too is I talked to them about the two days of practice, I was like, ‘look at this dude’s practice habits.’ Look at how he’s the first one and how he approaches it, how his mind is completely locked in, completely dialed and completely focused,” Guthrie continued. “His prep beforehand and after, how he takes care of his body is incredible. So there’s a lot to learn and a lot for our guys to take from that in addition to the wonderful experience that they had.”
While there has been no concrete decision in terms of when James might make his season debut, his earliest opportunity would be on Tuesday for the Lakers’ home game against the Utah Jazz. As of publication there has been no change in James’ status on the injury report.
James is entering his 23rd season in the NBA and will turn 41-years-old before the New Year. Last season, he was selected to his 21st All-Star appearance and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. He appeared in a total of 70 games while averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.0 steals.
