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A few key Los Angeles Lakers players were conspicuous by their absence in the team’s first 2025-26 preseason game on Friday. LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Marcus Smart, Maxi Kleber and rookie Adou Thiero all sat out, and as far as James and Doncic are concerned, it won’t be the only exhibition contest they will miss.
Doncic will reportedly sit out both of the Lakers’ first two preseason games. James is dealing with nerve irritation in his glute, and it remains to be seen how much he plays in the preseason.
Coach JJ Redick said that Doncic will definitely get some run before L.A.’s regular-season opener later this month.
Via Silver Screen and Roll:
“As a coach, you want all those guys out on the court,” Redick said. “It’s just the reality. We want to be smart with both of them. Two different situations, but we’re going to treat it sort of the same way. Luka will play in the preseason. We’re going to use next week to continue to just get him in a good spot with his body and his energy and all this stuff.
“He was great the first two days of camp. It was a lot. I think it made sense given his workload this summer to just kind of pull back. He’s in a great place physically and mentally, so we’ll just continue to use next week to just get him ramped up.”
Doncic spent the latter part of the summer representing his native Slovenia in EuroBasket 2025. Before that, he dropped a considerable amount of weight and got into fantastic shape following lots of criticism centered around his lack of fitness and conditioning.
James’ camp reportedly wants the Lakers to be “overly cautious” with him this season. He sprained his MCL in the team’s last playoff game in May, and it sounds like he’s going to slowly ramp things up.
“For him, it’s different in year 23,” Redick said. “Normal return to play protocol, we try to get 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-3 exposures versus coaches and then that eventually gets to 3-on-3 live. He knows his body and so we’ll work with him…on making sure he gets to the a point of comfort where he can sort of be a full participant.
“But he’s been on the court every day. He’s been in the weight room, continuing to get his body ready. But he’s been doing his individual workouts.”
The Lakers’ next preseason game will be on Sunday versus the Golden State Warriors, but their following contest won’t be until next Sunday, Oct. 12. That will give them a chance to focus on the level of activity and exertion for both superstars and get more clarity on when they will play and how much they will play this month.
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