LeBron James He will miss his second match in a row after being released from the team earlier in the week for “personal reasons.”
The Los Angeles Lakers star, 39, missed the team's game on Sunday, December 8, against the Portland Trail Blazers due to a left foot injury, the first game James has missed this season.
In team training on Wednesday, December 11, the Lakers’ head coach JJ Riddick He explained James' notable absence.
Redick (40 years old) told reporters: “LeBron is not with the team at the moment.” “He left for personal reasons, an excused absence.”
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Redick said James is “taking some time” away from the team as the four-time MVP tries to get his body right for the rest of his 22nd NBA season.
On Thursday, December 12, the Lakers announced that James would not play in the team's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, December 13. The powerful striker has been officially ruled out due to 'soreness in the left foot'.
sources He told ESPN That James did not accompany the Lakers on their trip to Minnesota.
The Lakers are scheduled to return to the court on Sunday, December 15, at home against the Memphis Grizzlies. James' status for that game has not yet been announced.
Redick, the Lakers' first-year coach, told reporters on Wednesday that James had been feeling fatigued lately. He last played in the Lakers' overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, December 6.
“In the game, he had to be subbed a few times because he was gassed,” Redick said. “For us, we have to be aware as we play more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot of minutes, and Sunday, having a knock on his foot, seemed like a good opportunity for him to get a bit of a break.”
Things haven't been going smoothly for LeBron or the Lakers over the past month. Heading into Friday's game against the Timberwolves, the team has lost seven of its last 10 games.
James, who turns 40 on Dec. 30, is averaging 23 points, 9.1 assists and 8.0 rebounds on the season.
After the Lakers lost to the Hawks, James talked about how injuries to the team's players made things difficult.
“Obviously we're trying to find ways to mismatch the lineups,” he said. “So it's very difficult. We don't have a lot of room for error. … It's big, big, big, big pieces.”
James added: “I don't know what's going to get us out of this. We just have to not sink. Don't sink and we'll be fine.”
