The minutes are piling up for LeBron James and so are the losses for the Los Angeles Lakers.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The minutes are piling up for LeBron James and so are the losses for the Los Angeles Lakers.
James played 37 minutes on Wednesday night in a 116-111 loss to the Sacramento Kings, logging 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He’s averaged 38 minutes in the month of January, which includes two overtime games where he played 40-plus.
James is a physical wonder at 38 years old but the Lakers are starting to grow concerned with his workload. After all, even if they manage to squeak into the postseason, it’ll mean nothing if James is not at 100%.
“I feel bad about that. He’s playing at an amazing level. But we can’t run him into the ground. That was one of my main goals coming into this season,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “We just have to manage him and have clarity in terms of scaling back his minutes some.”
Ham mentions that James has been smart with his non-game days but it’s likely not enough to balance out the wear and tear he’s putting on this season — which doesn’t get easier with the Lakers sitting at 20-25.
