LeBron James is set to take his first real on-court step toward an unprecedented 23rd NBA season, with the plan for a practice stint alongside the South Bay Lakers later this week.
Before tipoff in Charlotte on Monday, Lakers coach JJ Redick described how the organization is staging a careful buildup for the 40-year-old after a sciatica flare near the start of training camp kept him out of team work.
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Redick initially told reporters James was “literally practicing with South Bay today,” a note the club clarified a short time later, explaining that the G League affiliate was off on Monday and the workout would occur later in the week.
The timeline remains deliberately open. Los Angeles has avoided attaching dates to James’s return as he rebuilds rhythm and conditioning, and James has not spoken at length since media day in late September. Even without him, the group has banked valuable wins.
The Lakers improved to 7-2 with a 121-111 victory over the Hornets on Monday, their sixth in seven games, and looked organized at both ends despite early health setbacks across the rotation.
Austin Reaves rejoined the lineup in Charlotte after missing three games with a hamstring issue, and his reaction to the South Bay plan matched the upbeat mood around the locker room.
“I told him he should play a game (for South Bay) which is kind of funny,” Reaves said with a laugh. The guard added that the reintegration will be seamless when James is cleared.
What the South Bay session signals
A controlled practice with South Bay offers a bridge back to five-on-five intensity without the demands of an NBA game night. For a veteran managing a nerve issue, the structure matters. The staff can frame live segments around short bursts, deceleration tests, and contact that scales up across the session.
It also keeps James in El Segundo while the varsity group continues a five-game road swing. The Lakers do not expect him to join the trip, and the next home date, against Utah on Nov. 18, sits as a logical checkpoint even as the organization avoids labeling it a target.
Reaves echoed how the team believes James has been game-planning during his time away.
“The thing about him is he understands the game as everybody knows,” Reaves said. “Knowing him, he’s been watching these first, what is that 11 games and, analyzing the game in a sense of where he knows when he comes back, ‘This is how I can help the team.'”
