LeBron James is off to a concerning start to the 2025-26 NBA season.
The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their training camp, but without the presence of their captain, LeBron James.
James was sidelined on day one of training camp because of glute nerve irritation. Although the injury is minor, the 40-year-old superstar didn’t risk playing through it.
With James’ camp already doubtful about his fitness, the news could certainly panic some fans of the Lakers.
Andy Kamenetzky says the LA Lakers should allow LeBron James to sit out the preseason
The 2025-26 NBA season will be Year 23 for James in the league. This is an historic feat as no player in NBA history has played as many seasons as the King.
But the end goal for James is to win another NBA Championship. Keeping that goal in mind, Andy Kamenetzky of the ‘Locked On Lakers’ urged the franchise to allow LBJ to sit out of preseason games.
“Look, if the price of getting LeBron available for the majority of the regular season is sacrificing the preseason, you do that every day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Kamenetzky said.
There’s no doubt that James has shown incredible longevity in his career. However, over the last few seasons, the 4x NBA champion has faced recurring injury troubles.
A key reason behind it is James being put on the court right from the preseason games.
‘Sacrificing’ preseason is important to avoid last season’s mistake with LeBron James
Last season, James played in 70 games for the Purple and Gold, averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game.
However, let’s not forget that James took a break during the middle of the season to recharge himself. Kamenetzky believes in order to repeat that mistake, the Lakers must make a sacrifice in the preseason.
“And again, if it avoids what we saw last year, where the overwork, forget perhaps leading to where we are right now, it may have led to that period where LeBron needed to take a couple weeks away from the team to physically and mentally recharge.
“If you can potentially avoid all of those things by essentially again sacrificing a lot of the preseason, you do it,” the Lakers analyst stated.
With James’ Lakers future already in doubt, forcing him to play preseason games could further damage the relationship between the two sides.
At the end of the day, the Lakers still need James at his best to have a shot at winning it all, even with the presence of Luka Doncic on the team.
