(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers headed into the 2023-24 NBA season with high hopes of being a legitimate title contender in the Western Conference, with the team getting a lot of credit for making some solid moves in the offseason to add to the roster and keep key players on the squad.
Unfortunately for the storied franchise, things have gotten rocky to start the season, with the team already dealing with numerous injuries and, as a result, they have been forced to play veteran superstar LeBron James more minutes per game than they’d like.
During the season-opening loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers made a lot of headlines for keeping James sidelined on a minutes restriction, even though it appeared they needed him on the floor.
That minutes restriction didn’t last long as he played extended minutes the next few games, which resulted in two overtime periods, three wins, and one loss.
With James’ body not holding up throughout his entire stint with the Lakers thus far, this is obviously a concern for a team that wants to be a title contender this season, and as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst cautioned, this can’t be the norm for Los Angeles, via NBA on ESPN.
“This can’t be something that happens over and over.”
–@windhorstespn on LeBron’s extended minutes to save the game. pic.twitter.com/PP8CRq2vcI
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 2, 2023
Yes, James played well in the games that he ended up playing extended minutes, but he’s about to turn 39 in December and needs to have his minutes monitored in order to be fresh for what is expected to be another deep playoff run.
It’ll be interesting to see how head coach Darvin Ham and his coaching staff handle this situation moving forward, as it will be crucial to the team’s success this season.
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