LeBron James continues to be so great at basketball that it can be easy to forget his body needs extra maintenance at this stage of his career. Despite that, the Los Angeles Lakers may not be in a position to rest and manage the load of James in the way which the situation would demand.
This was a topic tackled by Jovan Buha on a recent episode of his podcast. The Lakers insider made it clear this was his own speculation on the matter, and not an internal report. However, the thought remained that James may not get the luxury of sitting out a ton of key points in 2025-26.
Buha said, "Logically, it makes some sense at age 41, year 23, to sprinkle in some load management. I don't expect him to consistently rest back-to-backs. Maybe once in a blue moon, or it's a four games in five nights stretch. ... I don't expect it to be a Kawhi Leonard type [of] load management."
The Lakers insider did not believe James would be 'purposely' rested 15-20 games to stay fresh. Buha did admit that approach would be best, but he thought even James would be hesitant to accept that type of workload, based on recent years and LeBron's stance on load management.
Lakers will need every game they can get from LeBron James
The obvious elephant in the room as to why the Lakers could not get away with strategically sitting James and keeping him out of games entirely would be the loaded Western Conference that they play in. Considering the quality of competition, not having your second best player available, on purpose, can certainly cost you games on a regular basis.
Luka Doncic is capable of carrying a team like few others in the NBA. However, the duo of Doncic and James is at the crux of what makes the Lakers special heading into the 2025-26 season.
Removing half of that equation would undoubtedly dampen the Lakers' chances of winning. That remains true even against some of the 'easier' matchups they should have.
Final Western Conference standings... pic.twitter.com/8AA7VAkCXU
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) April 13, 2025
One does not need to look much further than last year's Western Conference standings to see evidence of the blood bath it offers. The Lakers secured the third seed with a record of 50-32 and the help of key tiebreakers. That was only two wins better than the eighth seed in 2024-25.
Resting James as he approaches his 41st birthday would be nice. However, if the competition is anything akin to what was offered last season, that could be the difference between the Lakers having homecourt advantage in the first round and participating in the Play-In Tournament.