{"id":11067,"date":"2024-12-15T07:34:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-15T07:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11067"},"modified":"2024-12-15T07:34:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T07:34:22","slug":"breaking-news-lakers-provide-lebron-james-update-as-timing-of-absence-raises-eyebrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11067","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS: Lakers Provide LeBron James Update as Timing of Absence Raises Eyebrows.."},"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\/11\/GettyImages-2184331173-e1732154329203.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2184331173-e1732154329203.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2184331173-e1732154329203.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/GettyImages-2184331173-e1732154329203.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"LeBron James, Lakers\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"703\" data-dom-ready-time=\"834\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers greets fans.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0have upgraded\u00a0LeBron James\u2018 status to questionable,\u00a0per the NBA\u2019s latest injury report, for their December 15 home game against the\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies\u00a0in a critical matchup.<\/p>\n<p>Another loss would drop the Lakers\u2019 record to .500 and outside the top 10 in the Western Conference after a strong 10-4 start.<\/p>\n<p>The 39-year-old James has been out since dropping a 39-point triple-double in the Lakers\u2019 134-132 overtime loss to the\u00a0Atlanta Hawks\u00a0on December 6. After watching the Lakers\u2019 107-98 win over the\u00a0Portland Trail Blazers from the bench at Crypto.com Arena on December 8, James stepped away from the team.<\/p>\n<p>Lakers coach JJ Redick labeled the mysterious absence of James as an\u00a0\u201cexcused absence\u201d\u00a0for\u00a0\u201cpersonal reasons\u201d\u00a0after he looked\u00a0\u201cgassed\u201d\u00a0during the Lakers 1-3 road trip.<\/p>\n<p>Though Redick hinted it may be connected to managing James\u2019 load in his 22nd season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn game, he\u2019s asked for a sub a couple of times because he\u2019s gassed,\u201d\u00a0Redick revealed to reporters, per ESPN. \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<hr \/>\n<h2>JJ Redick Non-Committal on LeBron James\u2019 Return<\/h2>\n<p>The Lakers lost their second game without James 97-87 to the\u00a0Minnesota Timberwolves\u00a0on December 13. It was their eighth loss in their last 11 games, including four of their last five.<\/p>\n<p>Before the game, Redick curtly replied\u00a0\u201cNo\u201d without offering further details when asked if he knew when James would rejoin the team.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of James\u2019 absence came with\u00a0heightened scrutiny\u00a0as trade speculations 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>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<hr \/>\n<h2>Retirement Talks and Trade Speculations<\/h2>\n<p>After James\u2019 last game with the Lakers, he pondered how long he\u2019d continue playing in the NBA.<\/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<p>After James\u2019 intriguing postgame comments, NBA commentator and former sports columnist Michael Wilbon suggested on the\u00a0December 7 episode of \u201cNBA Today\u201d\u00a0that the\u00a0Golden State Warriors should revisit their trade interest in James.<\/p>\n<p>The Warriors were rebuffed last February at the trade deadline in their attempt to pair James and\u00a0Stephen Curry.<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0Wilbon\u2019s ESPN colleague and James\u2019 former teammate Kendrick Perkins backed up Wilbon\u2019s suggestion by claiming the Lakers superstar camp won\u2019t oppose a trade this time around.<\/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 [season], 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>\u201cLast [season], 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers greets fans. The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0have upgraded\u00a0LeBron James\u2018 status to questionable,\u00a0per the NBA\u2019s latest injury report, for their December 15&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11067","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 NEWS: Lakers Provide LeBron James Update as Timing of Absence Raises Eyebrows.. - 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=11067\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING NEWS: Lakers Provide LeBron James Update as Timing of Absence Raises Eyebrows.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers greets fans. 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