Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James said in October that he planned to play in all 82 games in the 2024-25 regular season, a goal that officially ended when he missed L.A.’s most recent game against the Portland Trail Blazers due to foot soreness.
He hadn’t missed a game prior, appearing in 23 straight games to start the season. Some people were starting to grow concerned about the idea of James trying to play in every game, and his own head coach might have even been one of them.
JJ Redick on LeBron playing all 82 games: "I don't know if it's in the best interest of him and us if he does that."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) December 3, 2024
But now that James’ goal of appearing in all 82 games is out the window, it may be time to start reconsidering a rest plan for him. ESPN’s Bobby Marks thinks that the Lakers may need to be willing to “sacrifice some games” in order to rest James and keep him fresh.
"I don't think this team is good enough to sustain it."@BobbyMarks42 on the Lakers decreasing LeBron's minutes each game. pic.twitter.com/IcLAKkZrg6
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 9, 2024
“I’m gonna steal a page of what Philadelphia is probably gonna be doing with Joel Embiid,” Marks said. “I think it gets to a point where maybe you have to sacrifice some games here when we look at it from a rest standpoint, as far as resting LeBron James. I know people in that Lakers organization don’t wanna hear that right now, but I think that’s how you probably manage it the most.
“I just look at it — if you’re gonna play him 30 minutes a night, I don’t think this team is good enough to sustain it. You look at their roster, they have basically eight playable guys right now. … They need to get Austin Reaves back. We don’t know when Jarred Vanderbilt’s gonna get back here, so, for me, it’s kind of managing more games than minutes.”
Marks appears to be implying that if the Lakers are going to try to keep James in the lineup as often as possible yet only play him around 30 minutes per game, that they won’t be able to survive. The veteran is currently averaging 35 minutes per game.
Instead of that approach, Marks appears to favor one where the Lakers let James play heavy minutes when he does take the court, and in exchange, sit him some games that they may have to be willing to lose.
James will turn 40 this month, and while he is still playing at a high level in his 22nd NBA season, he has shown his age at times in the 2024-25 campaign. For example, in his last five appearances, he has had two games with 12 points or fewer.
But in his last game, he posted a 39-point triple-double, and he’s still averaging 23.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game this season. The future Hall of Famer remains one of the most captivating players in the league even as his career gets closer to the end.
The Lakers are 13-11 on the season. They currently hold the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. If they’re going to pick games to rest James and potentially lose some of those contests as a result, they need to be confident that the formula will still result in them reaching the postseason.
In each of the last two seasons, the Lakers reached the playoffs after surviving the play-in tournament. Their run ended in the first round of the playoffs last season, but they made a trip to the Western Conference Finals in the previous campaign. They’d certainly love to go on a deep run like that this season.