LeBron James (Sciatica) will miss next 3-4 weeks | How does this affect the Lakers moving forward?

with the NFL on CBS and Paramount+. Breaking NBA news LeBron James is going to miss the start of the NBA season. At least 3 to 4 weeks, with sciatica referring to pain that travels down the lower back and into one or both legs. I mean, it’s kind of a thing that older people deal with. And LeBron is getting up there. He’s going to turn 41 in December. Entering his 23rd season in the NBA. Lakers open up the regular season a week from Tuesday against the Warriors. Let’s bring in Avery Johnson, who played into his age 38 season. Avery, did you have to deal with sciatica at all in your playing days? No, I didn’t have to deal with sciatica, Chris. I had a little bit of a hip issue. My piriformis, which was obviously started with my hamstring and then went to my hip, but I didn’t have to deal with sciatica. And I’m a little bit concerned when you bring up that word because you talk about nerve damage, spinal issues, it could be caused, you know, herniated disc back. So when you’re talking about LeBron James, 41 years old, dealing with sciatica and is going to miss four weeks, we don’t know if there’s going to be a prolonged absence. You know, I was all look, I was I didn’t know what was going on with the second decision. Right now this is the third decision which we we hope LeBron’s going to be okay. Looking forward to him consistently playing at a high level on the court. But I know this is a major setback to start the season for not only LeBron James, but also the Los Angeles Lakers. As a former NBA coach of the year. Put yourself in the shoes of JJ Redick. What all information do you need? What are you doing right now to try to figure out what’s best for your team and for LeBron? Well, the first thing is you know Luka fortunately is in better shape. So he’s going to have to play a significant role. You just got to find the right combination of players to surround Luka on the court. You know what is a guy like DeAndre Ayton is going to do? You know he’s been a little bit of a no show since he left the Phoenix Suns. When we saw him last in the NBA finals playing against the Milwaukee Bucks a couple of years ago. So we got to make sure if I’m JJ Redick surround Luka, find a minute level early in the season. If it’s 38 minutes, 40 minutes, 36 minutes, where Luka is going to be solid every night and, you know, surround him with the right players, especially players that can make shots. But the main thing with LeBron is if they’re telling you LeBron James is going to be out for weeks. In my mind, with a player that has this much, this many miles on his body, I’m going to think of that as six weeks. I’m going to always add two more weeks to whatever the doctor is saying in my mind, to be real conservative with his with his rehab so we can have him for the long haul of the season and not rush him back. And it’s kind of a delicate situation because you have LeBron James, who is one of the all time greats. Some would argue the greatest. But then you have your your young star that’s going to take you into the next era of Laker basketball. How do you think this is going to go with with Luka being the guy for at least the first five, maybe ten, maybe more games of the season? I think it’s going to go well because Luka’s used to being the guy and, you know, if his body is going to translate with the loss of weight to better production, not only on the offensive side of the floor, but the defensive side of the floor, which has been the big hindrance for him. I think there will be okay. There have their bumps in the road. Lucas used to being the man. He’s not used to necessarily deferring to anybody. So I think potentially can go well. But injuries, that’s the great neutralizer having young players step up. Hey will we see Bronny James in the rotation for 10 to 12 minutes a game? And how productive can Bronny James be early in the season with his dad out for the next 3 to 4 weeks? So that remains to be seen. Avery. It’s as you know, it’s it’s a rugged Western Conference. And we’ve seen these LeBron Lakers teams in certain seasons have trouble making it into the postseason. The team they have now with Luka. Let’s just say LeBron misses a month and then comes back and he’s okay. Is there any chance that him missing this first month could come back to bite them down the road with where they stand in the West? Absolutely. Because I think this team, especially in the first round, they need home court advantage. The makeup of this team. You look at the Dallas Mavericks with Kyrie Irving still a dynamic team. When you look hey I’m only a block away. They got the size the versatility. You know if they’re healthy with Anthony Davis and Lively and obviously you know potential rookie of the year with the first pick in the draft. So it’s just the the Mavericks are so deep OKC is so deep. But I don’t think the Lakers can survive a a prolonged significant period without LeBron James. And if they don’t have first home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, I don’t think that bodes well for the Lakers. Well out at least three weeks. That would mean he would miss the Warriors, Timberwolves, Kings, Blazers and Timberwolves and could potentially return Halloween or so. But that’s that’s five games in. Avery told us a little bit earlier. He would even add two weeks to that. With this kind of injury involving this level of star at that age. Avery, thank you so much for joining us here. As we react to the news that LeBron James is going to miss the start of the season, we’ll get to see a lot more of Ashley Nicole Moss once we get into the NBA season. You can hear her on the Triple Threat podcast. You can also watch it on CBS Sports Network Weekly. And it’s on our YouTube page as well. Scan that QR code. It’ll take you right there. You’re going to want to

Avery Johnson joins CBS Sports HQ to react to LeBron James missing 3-4 weeks with Sciatica.

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19 comments

  3. I LUV BRON BUT I THINK HE JUST DONT WANNA PLAY THE FIRST MONTH AND HE DESERVES IT 40 years old who cares 😎🤎✊🏿😎 take ya time it’s probably that knee get better BIG FELLA

  5. Why didn’t LeBron take care of this issue during the summer? Lakers will be great without him. Time for LeBron to retire after this season ends. Watch Luka numbers go up BIG.

  10. Don't worry we don't need him now. He could miss a month as long as he is healthy for the postseason we fine. More minutes for Bronny as the back up pg or we move Bronny as back up sf Maybe.

  12. Drinking too muchHennessy???🤣🤣🤣I just wish the Lakers Brass trade the attention-grabing narcissist while he still has some value. I am sick tired of this egotistical diva. And take his no talent nepo son with him too!

  18. Sciatica is too general of a term. There are too many things that could be causing it. They should be able to pin down whether it's caused by muscles, muscle spasms, a pinched nerve, a lumbar injury, or other spinal issues. There's too much they're not telling us here.

  19. I have NEVER seen MAN hate another man so much! That's woman sh!t!! Who cares if Lebron sits out for a few weeks. We need the REST of the team to step up. Even at 40. Lakers don't WIN without Lebron.

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