The Lakers debuted on Friday with a very shorthanded roster, highlighted by the absences of LeBron James and Luka Dončić.
LeBron’s absence was known throughout the week as the Lakers are taking a proactive and cautious approach to his preseason as he enters year 23. Luka, meanwhile, wasn’t known until early on Friday
as he will miss both games this weekend, a step taken after he played in EuroBasket this summer.Prior to Friday’s game, Redick spoke about the plans for the two players.
“As a coach, you
want all those guys out on the court,” Redick said. “It’s just the reality. We want to be smart with both of them. Two different situations, but we’re going to treat it sort of the same way. Luka will play in the preseason. We’re going to use next week to continue to just get him in a good spot with his body and his energy and all this stuff.
“He was great the first two days of camp. It was a lot. I think it made sense given his workload this summer to just kind of pull back. He’s in a great place physically and mentally, so we’ll just continue to use next week to just get him ramped up.”
Clearly, Luka’s in good shape and this is another precaution from the Lakers. Given their odd preseason schedule in which they play twice this weekend before having another week off, it makes sense to delay the start of his preseason.
As for LeBron, there’s obviously some more uncertainty. Given how well he knows his body and that he’s entering an unprecedented 23rd season in the league, the Lakers are putting the ball in LeBron’s court. As a result, when Redick was asked about LeBron’s status for this preseason, there weren’t quite as many answers.
“For him, it’s different in year 23,” Redick said. “Normal return to play protocol, we try to get 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3 exposures versus coaches and then that eventually gets to 3-on-3 live. He knows his body and so we’ll work with him…on making sure he gets to the a point of comfort where he can sort of be a full participant.
“But he’s been on the court every day. He’s been in the weight room, continuing to get his body ready. But he’s been doing his individual workouts.”
Realistically, there isn’t much of a reason for LeBron to play in the preseason. While there is an argument for building continuity, this is a group that largely played together last season and that chemistry can be built upon once the season begins.
The biggest priority is a healthy LeBron, and that’s the approach the Lakers are clearly taking.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
