The NBA season will kick off on Tuesday and all teams are reserving their most important players in their last preseason games to arrive fresh for the opening day. And the Lakers are no exception.

Their coach, JJ Redick, left his star player, LeBron James, on the bench without a single minute in the win against the Suns (122-128) and in the beating they received against the Warriors (132-74).

After the game against the Suns the Los Angeles coach justified the absence of his star following the example of the legendary Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich in explaining the reasons why he decided to rest Tim Duncan in a game against the Sixers in 2012. ‘Pops’ then officially listed the reason as “DNP-Old” (didn’t play due to old age) due to the legendary center being 36 years old at the time.

He took it out of Popovich’s book

JJ Redick has now appropriated that hilarious explanation from ‘Pops’ to justify LeBron‘s absence in the Lakers‘ final preseason games. Although the official stat sheet shows DNP Coach’s decision (did not play by coaches’ decision), before the media he resorted to Popovich‘s phrase: “DNP Old”, ie “LeBron did not play because he was old”. And he acknowledged the veteran Spurs coach’s ‘copyright’: “I took it out of Pops‘ book.”

The fact is that LeBron James, by not playing those last two games of his team, will have a full week of rest before facing the official debut of the Lakers this season against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Surely that rest will come in handy for the veteran player, who will be 40 years old on December 30. An enviable exercise in sporting longevity.