{"id":10354,"date":"2024-12-13T03:52:56","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T03:52:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354"},"modified":"2024-12-13T03:52:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T03:52:56","slug":"breaking-real-reason-behind-lebron-james-absence-from-lakers-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2183135823-e1733257929436.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2183135823-e1733257929436.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2183135823-e1733257929436.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2183135823-e1733257929436.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"LeBron James, Lakers\" width=\"780\" height=\"437\" data-img-load-time=\"151\" data-dom-ready-time=\"162\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Lakers head coach JJ Redick and LeBron James during a game.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0superstar\u00a0LeBron James\u00a0was absent from the Lakers practice on December 11.<\/p>\n<p>Lakers rookie head coach\u00a0JJ Redick revealed to reporters, per ESPN,\u00a0that James is currently away from the team due to personal reasons and termed it as an \u201cexcused absence\u201d and added, he\u2019s \u201ctaking some time.\u201d His availability for their December 13 road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves is unclear, according to Redick.<\/p>\n<p>James\u2019 absence came on the heels of the Lakers\u2019 107-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on December 8, which he missed due to a foot injury. It was the first game he skipped this season after\u00a0initially saying his goal was to play all 82 regular-season games.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>LeBron James Trade Rumors<\/h2>\n<p>The timing of his absence also came at a time when trade rumors had started to swirl amid signs of decline in his recent play, including the worst stretch of his career when he missed 20 straight 3-pointers.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Kendrick Perkins said James\u2019 agent, Rich Paul, won\u2019t oppose a trade if his client wants it this time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sources tell me that if LeBron James at any point comes out and says that he wants to be traded or he wants to entertain it, they\u2019re going to entertain it,\u201d\u00a0said ESPN\u2019s Kendrick Perkins on NBA Today. \u201cIt ain\u2019t no holding him back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, Rick Paul stopped it [a trade to the Warriors]\u2026 When Golden State called asking about LeBron, Rich Paul, his agent, silenced all that. But if LeBron and Lakers get to this conversation again, I\u2019m hearing Rich Paul ain\u2019t getting in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst also added the Warriors\u00a0will \u201cdefinitely monitor\u201d James\u2019 status\u00a0after their failed pursuit during last season\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>James has a no-trade clause with a $52.6 million player option for next season.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Signs of Fatigue<\/h2>\n<p>Redick revealed that James has shown signs of fatigue recently, which is why he welcomes this long break for his aging superstar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn game, he\u2019s asked for a sub a couple of times because he\u2019s gassed,\u201d Redick told reporters. \u201cFor us, we have to be cognizant as we play more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot of minutes and Sunday, being banged up with the foot thing, it felt like a good opportunity for him to get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>James, who will turn 40 on December 30, is averaging 23.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 49.5% from the field and 35.9% from the 3-point line. His 29.8 usage rate this season represents the fourth-lowest mark of his career.<\/p>\n<p>If James was feeling fatigued, he did not show it during his last game. He turned back the clock with an incredible effort \u2014 39 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals \u2014 in a 134-132 losing effort to the Atlanta Hawks in overtime on December 6.<\/p>\n<p>Following his Herculean effort in 43 minutes against the Hawks, James confirmed that his time in the NBA is now limited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d\u00a0LeBron told Spectrum SportsNet. \u201cI just go out there and just play the game the right way. Compete at a high level and leave it all out on the floor every time I go out there. My time is very limited on how long I\u2019ll play. I\u2019m just happy to still be able to play the game that I love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Lakers head coach JJ Redick and LeBron James during a game. Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0superstar\u00a0LeBron James\u00a0was absent from the Lakers practice on December 11. Lakers rookie head&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Lakers head coach JJ Redick and LeBron James during a game. Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0superstar\u00a0LeBron James\u00a0was absent from the Lakers practice on December 11. Lakers rookie head...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-13T03:52:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"771\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-13T03:52:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-13T03:52:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg\",\"width\":771,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Lakers head coach JJ Redick and LeBron James during a game. Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0superstar\u00a0LeBron James\u00a0was absent from the Lakers practice on December 11. Lakers rookie head...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2024-12-13T03:52:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":771,"height":425,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354","name":"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-13T03:52:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-13T03:52:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/4-99.jpg","width":771,"height":425},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=10354#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Real Reason Behind LeBron James\u2019 Absence From Lakers Revealed.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10361,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10354\/revisions\/10361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}