For the first time this year, regular season or preseason, the Lakers had all 14 players available for practice on Monday. While LeBron James’ return drew the most attention, Gabe Vincent also made his return to practice while Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart, both of whom missed Saturday’s game in Milwaukee, also returned to practice.
LeBron’s status will largely be determined by himself. Redick said he was “TBD” to return against the Jazz on Tuesday while LeBron said it would depend on how his body
felt following shootaround before the game.
Here’s a look at the updates Redick provided for the rest of the Lakers who returned to practice.
Gabe Vincent
Like LeBron, Vincent returned to practice on Monday after a lengthy layoff. He suffered an ankle sprain in the third game of the season against the Kings, but was progressing during the team’s road trip with the expectation of returning to practice once the team was back in Los Angeles.
Also like LeBron, Vincent’s status for Tuesday’s game, according to Redick, is TBD.
Marcus Smart
Smart was one of two players who did not play on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday as he was out due to a viral illness. Redick noted prior to that Bucks game that an illness had been making its way through the team.
Fortunately, that illness has come and gone with Smart as he is expected to play on Tuesday.
Rui Hachimura
There might have been some worries about Rui’s inclusion on the injury report on Saturday with left calf soreness as any calf injury can raise some flags. However, it was designated as soreness, not tightness, in his calf and also Redick said Rui had been playing with the injury during the week without any issues.
For more good news, Redick also said that Rui is expected to play on Tuesday as well.
While we’ll try not to jinx it, the Lakers could conceivably follow up their first practice with all 14 players available with their first game with all 14 players available.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on BlueSky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
