Following the Los Angeles Lakers' victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night, LeBron James made it clear that playing in back-to-backs isn't ruled out automatically, but he's likely to be questionable each time.
"Every back-to-back for the rest of the season is TBD," James told reporters on Tuesday. "I am 41, I got the most minutes in NBA history … bank it right now."
As expected, the Lakers listed LeBron James as questionable on the official injury report on the afternoon of Wednesday's matchup. He has two injury designations: left foot joint arthritis and right sciatica.
Will LeBron James Play in Lakers-Spurs?
James won’t get the nod to play on Wednesday night. Although he left the door open to potentially play in his first back-to-back this year, LeBron will get the night off.
At the start of the 2025-2026 NBA season, LeBron found himself in a rare scenario. He was set to miss multiple weeks of action and wasn't healthy enough to begin the season with the Lakers due to his sciatica injury.
The superstar forward was back in action on November 18, debuting against the Utah Jazz. He had a slight minutes restriction at the start, but checked in for over 30 minutes over the next four games, before getting a night off.
Since LeBron's return to action, he has missed just two games. The Lakers have played just one back-to-back set during that stretch, and James was not available for the second night.
This year, LeBron has appeared in 18 games for the Lakers. Seeing the court for an average of 33.3 minutes, the star forward is posting averages of 21.7 points (51 percent from the field and 32 percent from three), while dishing out 6.8 assists, and coming down with 5.4 rebounds.
The Lakers are 12-6 since he's been back in the lineup. They are looking to improve to 23-11 against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
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