Lakers face ‘balancing act’

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The quick turnaround from the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA triumph in October means the team will face a “balancing act” in keeping veteran superstar LeBron James at his best, Lakers vice president Rob Pelinka said.

“That will just be a balancing act throughout the season, recognizing that there was an extremely short layoff between championship and the start of the season and kind of figuring out what’s best for LeBron, what’s best for his health, the team’s health, what’s best for the league and kind of walking that carefully and thoughtfully throughout the year,” Pelinka said in a video conference with reporters.

James and the Lakers polished off the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals in the league’s quarantine bubble in Orlando on 11 October.

With the 72-game 2020-21 season scheduled to tip off on 22 December, it’s less than a month to the start of training camps on 1 December.

James, who will turn 36 on 30 December, has never been a fan of “load management,” the technique used by teams to give uninjured players rest during the season to make sure they’re in peak shape when the playoffs roll around.

“If I’m healthy, I play,” James said last December.

“I mean, that should be the approach.”

But without the usual four months to recover from the rigors of the previous season, even former president Barack Obama has suggested that James may have to spend less time on court.

Obama, appearing on an episode of HBO’s “The Shop” said James is “definitely going to have some minutes restrictions” in the new season — quipping that he should let younger teammate Anthony Davis absorb the load.

“That’s what I got him for,” James said.