The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that 40-year-old NBA superstar LeBron James will not be with the team — at least for tonight’s game — with his return unknown.
Lakers head coach J.J. Redick said Thursday that James is away from the team due to “personal reasons.”
Redick called it an “excused absence,” as James’ status for Friday is unclear.
James has been battling a foot injury and missed Wednesday’s game, his first of the year.
Redick told reporters that James has felt “gassed” and the team feels they are mismanaging his minutes in his 22nd season.
Redick also said James has asked to be taken out of a couple of games for some breaks.
“For us, we have to be cognizant as we play more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot of minutes and Sunday, being banged up with the foot thing, it felt like a good opportunity for him to get some rest,” Redick said.
James expressed a desire earlier this season to play in all 82 games, but both he and the Lakers are now being practical with the inevitable minor injuries that arise during any season.
While he already has six triple-doubles this season – including four-straight at one point – his 23.0 points per game are the lowest he’s posted since his rookie season, over 20 years ago with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James’ absence comes on the heels of UFC star Colby Covington’s social media rant about James where he questioned the star’s alleged ties to disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and his now-infamous “Diddy Parties.”
James was recently confronted by an NFL fan who accused him of attending Combs’ parties until security intervened.
It is not known if James attended any of Combs’ parties in the past or not.