A glute issue sidelined LeBron James at the start of Lakers training camp and could jeopardize his ability to play in the season opener, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Lakers coach JJ Redick indicated that the 40-year James has “a little bit of nerve irritation in the glute.”
“It’s probably a little bit longer of a ramp-up leading into opening night for him,” Redick said. “Obviously in year 23, it’s uncharted territory here.”
James will make NBA history in his season debut, as no other player has played a 23rd year in the league.
“I’m still ramping things back up,” James said. “I’m not where I want to be. But I mean, I don’t want to be where I want to be right now in September. So, I got some time and I’m looking forward to the process of getting there.”
The Lakers’ approach regarding James’ training camp participation came at the urging of his camp. His representatives met with the Lakers’ brass with a directive for the team to be “overly cautious” with him in the early going to keep him fresh for a long playoff run. He suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee during last season’s playoffs.
Redick is still hopeful to have James available for one preseason contest.
“We would love to have that happen,” he said.
James exercised his player option this offseason and will make $52.6MM. That means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after the season but James declares that won’t have any effect on this season.
“It will have no impact,” James told McMenamin. “I’m super excited about the challenges and the excitement of our team. We added some new guys. We got another year under our belt with our coaching staff from last year. Got a full year with Luka [Doncic] and another year with the guys that I’ve been with. So super excited about that. And I’m not worried about contracts at this point in my career. That doesn’t bother me at all. Super humbled to even have it, have a contract still and be able to play the game that I love still at this part of my career and take full advantage of it.”
As for retirement, James said his motivation to go through his usual offseason regimen will determine that decision.
“For me, it’s just, am I still excited about the process? Do I still get motivated about the process every single year?” James told ESPN. “Preparing my body. Preparing my mind. Working on my body, training, things of that nature, to get ready for a full season. I think once I kind of fall out of love with the process, then I’ll know for sure. Then, it’d probably be the end for me.”
The Hawks made some major additions this offseason, dealing for Kristaps Porzingis and signing free agents Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard. Head coach Quin Snyder believes they’ll make the roster much more versatile, Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes.
“I think the biggest challenge with that is the balance between having continuity and having change on a game-to-game basis,” Snyder said. “For our team to be as good as I think we need to be and want to be, our players have to understand that every game is different.
“Not just from the standpoint that minutes might fluctuate or rotations are different, but every game is potentially going to require something different, of different players, but we do have the ability and have the versatility, I think, whether it be matchups or style, to play a few different ways, and we’ve got a group that, because there are so many new guys that create new combinations, that I think I mentioned earlier. I think I said that we have to be patient and understand this is a slow burn. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be urgent about, you know, focusing and pursuing that.”
As for the additions themselves, they’ll help in a variety of ways, as the Hawks head coach explained.
“Specifically to our new guys, I think Nickeil gives us another player that’s capable of really defending at the point of attack, which I think is really important,” Snyder said. “Kristaps (provides) versatility defensively…I think you think of Luke because he shoots the ball so well. He’s more than a shooter, as they like to say. So describing some of those individual characteristics.”
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Lakers forward LeBron James didn’t offer any specifics on Monday when asked at media day about his retirement plans, but admitted the end of his record-setting career is coming “sooner than later,” writes Dan Woike of The Athletic.
After making it a priority to play with son Bronny James in the NBA, LeBron made it clear on Monday that he won’t necessarily stick around in an effort to do the same thing with Bryce James, who is a freshman at Arizona this year.
“I am not waiting on Bryce,” James said, per Woike. “I don’t know what his own timeline is. I got my timeline, and I don’t know if they quite match up.”
James also said that the opportunity to play with a superstar like Luka Doncic in his prime provides some additional “motivation,” but he said that won’t have a material impact on his retirement decision, which will be made by LeBron and his family (Twitter link via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin).
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How and where will the NBA’s all-time leading scorer end his career? Yaron Weitzman explores that topic in a story for Bleacher Report, writing that most people around the league expect LeBron James to eventually retire with the Lakers.
If James does leave Los Angeles, the Cavaliers are viewed by agents and executives as the “only team LeBron would seriously consider joining,” Weitzman writes.
“If he wants to do a farewell tour like Kobe (Bryant) did, it’s the only other team that makes sense,” a league executive told Weitzman. “LeBron cares about narratives. He doesn’t want to be like Michael Jordan on the Wizards.”
Still, James potentially joining the Cavs is highly unlikely during the upcoming season for several reasons, Weitzman notes. If LeBron decides to return to Cleveland, it would likely occur in 2026 free agency, and would require the 40-year-old to take a major pay cut.
For his part, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka continues to insist the team wants LeBron around as long as he wants to be in L.A., per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retired a Laker,” Pelinka said about the possibility of re-signing James next summer. “That would be a positive story.”
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A panel of 20 coaches, executives, and scouts around the NBA polled by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps overwhelmingly picked Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the current best player in the NBA, with Jokic receiving 19 votes while Lakers guard Luka Doncic earned the last one.
However, the predictions for 2025/26 MVP were more divided — Jokic leads the way with seven votes, but Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (five), Doncic (four), and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama (two) each received multiple votes, while Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards each got one too.
The panel polled by Bontemps also predicted who will be the NBA’s best player in 2030 (Wembanyama received 16 votes), who will win Rookie of the Year in 2025/26 (Cooper Flagg earned 19 votes), and where LeBron James will be when the 2026/27 season begins — seven respondents expect him to still be a Laker, while five said he’ll be retired and eight believe he’ll be with a new team.
Those coaches, executives, and scouts also believe the Hawks (seven votes) had the best offseason of the NBA’s 30 teams, while the Pelicans (nine votes) had the worst summer. And they nearly unanimously picked the Thunder to repeat as champions. Just two respondents chose the Nuggets to win the 2026 title, while the other 18 stuck with Oklahoma City.
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The Lakers provided a huge show of support for Luka Doncic as he represented Slovenia at EuroBasket, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Team governor Jeanie Buss and president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka both made the trip to Poland to watch Doncic in action. They were joined by team stakeholders Kurt Rambis and his wife Linda, along with other staff members, and assistant coach Greg St. Jean worked on Slovenia’s coaching staff.
“Luka has a tremendous amount of heartfelt pride and appreciation for his roots and playing for his country,” Pelinka said. “I just think in the partnerships we have with our players, the Lakers want to be mindful of players’ passions and who they are as men and then lean in and support those things. So, around Luka, it was a very easy partnership decision that we wanted to support.”
Even though his team didn’t bring home a medal, Doncic was outstanding. He averaged 34.7 points per game, the highest by anyone since 1989, and raised that figure to 40.5 PPG in two knockout round contests. Team sources tell McMenamin that the Lakers’ coaching staff was impressed by the way Doncic moved after his offseason conditioning program. He was able to jump noticeably higher, split double teams and be more disruptive on defense.
“Players playing basketball in the offseason is something that, from a leadership standpoint, I support,” Pelinka said. “I think you could say in some sense that some of the offseason and sort of the current basketball lens, especially in the States, is on individual work. And I think that sort of the team environment can get lost.”
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Luka Doncic has a lot of NBA seasons left, but he’s interested in someday finishing his basketball career with his first professional team, Real Madrid. In an interview with Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Doncic addressed the possibility of wrapping up his playing days in Spain (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops).
“To play with Real Madrid, you have to be so good,” Doncic said. Asked about potentially returning to the Euroleague and ACB power, he responded, “For sure. They raised me.”
Doncic was only 13 years old when he signed with Real Madrid in 2012. He starred at the junior level for three seasons before being promoted to the senior team and officially beginning his professional career. He was the youngest player ever to take the court for Real Madrid and the third-youngest in ACB history.
He quickly became one of the league’s top stars, capping off his career in Europe in 2018 by winning the EuroLeague scoring title, along with regular season and Final Four MVP honors.
Doncic doesn’t envision himself playing into his 40s like LeBron James, but he hopes to emulate his Lakers teammate in another way. He tells Gay that he would like to become involved in owning a sports franchise, even if it’s not in basketball. James is a minority owner with Fenway Sports Group, which controls the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool F.C.
Doncic also discussed his new emphasis on conditioning, which he said was inspired by teaming up with James. Doncic was noticeably lighter and more mobile as he represented Slovenia in the just-completed EuroBasket tournament.
He used resistance bands, deadlifts and dumbbells to build his strength and added in some agility drills. He hired a private chef to help with a new nutrition routine that included intermittent fasting.
He also stepped away from the basketball court for a while to place his full focus on fitness.
“For the first time, I stopped playing basketball for a month,” Doncic revealed. “Pure training and fitness. And padel tennis.”
Tragedy has struck Timberwolves big man Naz Reid and his family. His sister, Toraya Reid, was shot and killed Saturday in New Jersey, Eva Herscowitz of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. A New Jersey prosecutor charged Shaquille Green, whom the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said was in a relationship with Toraya Reid, with her murder.
Reid’s former teammate, Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns, was devastated by the news.
“Heartbroken. No words can ever take away the pain for my brother,” Towns tweeted. “Holding everyone close in prayer today.”
Luka Doncic‘s slimmed-down appearance has been one of the major offseason storylines for the Lakers, and assistant coach Greg St. Jean credits LeBron James‘ influence for helping to make it happen. St. Jean tells Pijus Sapetka of BasketNews that being around James every day inspired Doncic to change his diet and commit to a new workout routine.
“You know what? I always find this — iron sharpens iron,” St. Jean said. “When you’re around really good players, it’s just like when you’re a coach, and you’re around a really good coach. You can’t help but be motivated to continue to get better at your craft.
“I think Luka’s learned a little bit from every great player he’s been around. And I know he’s always looked up to LeBron, He’s always been somebody he’s really admired. So I think having those two together is obviously motivating. I think it’s two-way motivating as well. I don’t think it’s just a one-way street.”
Doncic has always been a star in international competitions, but his improved conditioning has helped him become dominant for Slovenia at this year’s EuroBasket. Though four games, he’s leading the tournament in scoring at 31.3 PPG while ranking second in assists (8.3) and first in steals (3.3).
Doncic’s career took an unexpected twist in February with a shocking trade that sent him from Dallas to L.A. He posted typical numbers after the deal — averaging 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 28 games — but the Lakers were overmatched in a first-round playoff loss to Minnesota.
The organization began reworking its roster with Doncic as the focal point, adding Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia in free agency. Doncic shared that commitment by signing a three-year max extension last month that could be worth up to $165.3MM.
There has been some speculation throughout the summer that James isn’t fully happy with the idea of Doncic as the new team leader and may be looking to move on. He has an expiring $52.6MM contract after picking up his player option in June.
However, St. Jean indicated that both stars will continue to serve as the Lakers’ foundation.
“I think LeBron, you can see, is working really hard as well. He’s up at 5 a.m., and he’s working on his body as well,” he said. “So, I think our team and our players — it’s not just about those two guys — but I think everybody’s motivated to come back and have a really good season.”
The Warriors haven’t given up hope of trading for LeBron James and teaming him with Stephen Curry, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (subscription required). Sources tell Fischer that Golden State has reached out to the Lakers on multiple occasions over the past 18 months to work out a deal, but has come up empty.
James and Curry played together at the Paris Olympics last August, combining their talents to capture a gold medal for Team USA. Coach Steve Kerr was in charge of that team, and the Warriors would like to create that same dynamic in the NBA.
Even though there are persistent rumors that James might be headed elsewhere after picking up his $52.6MM player option in June, Fischer points out that it would be tough for Golden State to put together a trade proposal that matches salaries without tearing apart the core of the roster. He adds that also holds true if Giannis Antetokounmpo were to ask out of Milwaukee.
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