![\"LeBron](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/USATSI_27204140.jpg.webp\")
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Michael Kaskey-Blomain<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James is nearing his season debut after missing the first several weeks of the campaign while dealing with sciatica. Prior to his return to game action, James spoke with media members and fielded a question about what he expects his role to be with the Lakers this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t matter,\u201d James said. \u201cI\u2019m a ball player. The best thing about me and the way I\u2019ve built my game over my whole life\u2026 I\u2019ve never had a position. \u2026 There\u2019s not one team, one club in the world that I can\u2019t fit in and play for. I can do everything on the floor. So whatever this team needs me to do, and more I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many expected L.A. to struggle in James\u2019 absence, but that hasn\u2019t been the case. The Lakers have won 10 of their first 14 games and currently sit in the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference standings.<\/p>\n
The Lakers\u2019 strong start without James has led some to suggest that the team should bring the four-time champion off the bench upon his return, but there\u2019s basically zero percent chance of that happening. Instead, James will have to figure out a way to mesh with L.A.\u2019s first five, which shouldn\u2019t be too difficult for him given his vast skill set and level of experience.<\/p>\n
More difficult for James was being confined to the sideline at the start of a season for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
“It definitely sucks,” James said of the time on the sideline. “Never in my life since I started playing the game of basketball have I ever not started the season. … So it’s been a mind test, but I’m built for it and it’s been putting in the work, both mentally and physically, trying to get myself ready to rejoin the team.”<\/p>\n
James, who will turn 41 next month, is in the midst of his record 23rd<\/sup> season in the NBA. If it were anyone else, we would wonder how much gas could possibly be left in the tank. But, when it comes to James, we already know that the answer to that question is a lot.<\/p>\n James is still one of the absolute best players in the entire NBA. He was selected to his 21st<\/sup> consecutive All-Star game last season and he was also named to the All-NBA Second Team for the fourth time. In 70 games for L.A., he averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per performance \u2013 certainly not the numbers of a player who is on his last legs.<\/p>\n The NBA is simply a better \u2013 and more exciting \u2013 place when James is out on the floor, so his imminent return is good news for basketball fans everywhere, not just in L.A.<\/p>\n Michael Kaskey-Blomain\u00a0is a\u00a0freelance\u00a0writer with The Sporting News. He\u00a0is an experienced sportswriter and media member with over a decade in the industry. He has covered the NBA and NFL for a variety of outlets, including CBS Sports, 247 Sports, FanSided and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Michael grew up just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael Kaskey-Blomain Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James is nearing his season debut after missing the first several weeks of the campaign while dealing with sciatica. Prior to his return to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t