LeBron James is an incredible basketball player and physical specimen. Even though he hasn’t played much during the 2023-24 preseason so far, he has shown signs he is still his usual self heading into his 21st season.
On Friday night against the Golden State Warriors, he played 18 minutes, all in the first half. He scored 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting while dishing five assists. He will have more help, both defensively and offensively, around him than he has in quite some time, and that should allow him to conserve his energy.
But at age 38, his minutes and overall workload will need to be managed, and head coach Darvin Ham said the Lakers will play it by ear.
Via Lakers Nation:
“It’s a day-by-day deal. It’s been a great thing to collaborate with the medical staff and with him, myself, Rob (Pelinka). We’ll come up with a solid plan,” Ham said. “Again, it’s easy with him to navigate those so-called challenges of the unknown because he takes such good care of himself. Constantly preparing himself.
“Again, not just to be available but available at the highest level, and again, we’ll just take it day-by-day and see where it goes, but just definitely him playing half of the (preseason) games. That was the plan and is the plan. We won’t waver from that, but outside of that, everything else, we’ll just take it day by day.”
It seems the team wants to trim his minutes and usage this season, especially after he played heavy minutes for most of the past two campaigns. On the other hand, Ham has also said the superstar looks like a third- or fourth-year version of himself.