LeBron James Returns From ‘Excused Absence’: How Long Can The Lakers Rely On Him?

LeBron James returned from a two-game absence on Sunday night, helping the Lakers to a 116-110 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies with 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting.

The leave was timed to the end of the NBA cup tournament, which allowed James to miss just two games in nine days. The team attributed his absence to a lingering foot injury that he had re-aggravated against the Miami Heat on Dec. 4, which had only worsened in the following loss at the Atlanta Hawks.

“It’s an everyday thing,” James told reporters, noting that the injury hadn’t been able to fully heal during his absence. “It’s been lingering for the last few years, but I was able to do a lot of great things to reassure not only that, but I got kneed in the quad in the Atlanta game at the end of regulation by [Anthony Davis], that’s now back to 100 percent.”

James, who turns 40 this month, is averaging 22.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 9.1 assists in 24 games this season. He plays around 35 minutes a night for the Lakers. He is second only to Davis in each number besides assists, which he leads the team in.

It’s not surprising, given that James is arguably the best basketball player of all time, that he would still be a pillar of any team headed into his twenty-second season. But as age and lingering injuries attempt to chase him down, younger players need to be pulling more of their weight.

The Lakers are 14-12, tied for ninth in the Western Conference. In James’ two absences, they beat the Trail Blazers by nine, with Davis, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell each contributing over 20 points and five rebounds. They also lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a game where only Davis cracked twenty.

“He’s the best on our team with his attention to detail and shifts,” said Lakers coach J.J. Redick, discussing how important James was to each area of the Lakers’ game. “An important part of us having a good team defense is his talk and his effort level on that.”

Redick added that the team was working to play James most effectively, potentially in shorter bursts, to allow him better recovery. “Maybe it’s not sitting out of [the] game,” he explained. “Maybe it’s not necessarily like I told him the night before the game, not necessarily less minutes, but shorter runs so that he’s not getting gassed, and then quicker segments on the bench, and then he’s back in.”

“He’s obviously dealing with some stuff,” said Davis after the Lakers’ win over the Grizzlies. “But I think a week off kind of just let him heal and get back right.”