NBA superstar LeBron James made his return to the court for the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
James has been away from the Los Angeles Lakers since Wednesday due to what has been described as ‘personal reasons’, with much speculation surrounding the reasons for his absence.
The 39-year-old was on the Lakers’ injury report with foot soreness last week, and on Friday he was listed as out with a left foot injury.
However, he returned to the Lakers for their clash against the Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles Sunday evening.
The NBA icon scored 18 points, and registered eight rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes of action as the Lakers sealed a 116-110 victory.
Last Sunday against Portland was the first game James has missed this season, and he made it two with his absence from the trip to Minnesota.
LeBron James made his return to the court for the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night
James, pictured with wife Savannah, had stepped away from the team for personal reasons
He did not appear to have traveled with the team to Minnesota and was not on the bench for the game.
Revealing the news of James’s absence on Wednesday, Lakers coach Redick told reporters: ‘LeBron is not with the team right now. He’s out for personal reasons, excused absence.’
He added that the veteran is ‘taking some time’ and did not have a timeframe for when James would return to the team.
James’ absence also comes after he has been shrouded in trade rumors this week.
The Golden State Warriors are said to be monitoring the veteran as they search for a second star to join Steph Curry, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported this week.
‘The Warriors have dreamed of pairing LeBron with Steph Curry and Draymond Green since last year,’ he said on the network’s ‘Get Up.’
‘They’ve made an inquiry and it got shut down last February. That was before LeBron played with Steve Kerr and Steph Curry and won the gold medal over the summer.
‘So, they will definitely monitor the situation, and I don’t think they do anything without knowing this door is locked, but I would just say with LeBron, it’s up to him. He has a no-trade clause and he has given no indication he wants the Lakers to do anything but upgrade the roster they’ve got, not that he wants to go anywhere.’
The 39-year-old missed two games over the past week, against Portland and Minnesota
The 39-year-old was on the Lakers’ injury report with foot soreness last week
James fulfilled his dream of playing alongside his son, Bronny, in the NBA this season when the 20-year-old was selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2024 Draft.
They became the first-ever father-son duo to suit up alongside each other in an NBA game during the Lakers’ season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 22.
However, James Jnr. was assigned to the Lakers’ G-League affiliate earlier last month and is expected to move between LA and South Bay this season.
James expressed a desire earlier this season to play in all 82 games, but both he and the Lakers are now being practical with the inevitable minor injuries that arise during any season.
However, earlier this week, Redick also said that he is in constant communication with both James and his athletic trainer, Mike Mancias, about managing the four-time MVP’s workload as his 40th birthday looms, which he will celebrate at the end of the month.
‘In game, he’s asked for a sub a couple times because he’s gassed,’ Redick said. ‘For us, we have to be cognizant as we play more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot of minutes and Sunday, being banged up with the foot thing, it felt like a good opportunity for him to get some rest.’
Last month, the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer announced that he was quitting social media in a bizarre post.
‘And with that said I’ll holla at y’all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y’all take care,’ he said in the post in which he included a peace sign and crown emoji.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick (right) told reporters that James was ‘taking some time’ away
James posted the farewell to his 159 million followers on Instagram and 52.9 million on X in response to a post from Rich Kleinman, Kevin Durant’s longtime manager.
He shared a screenshot of a lengthy X post from the NBA agent written on October 24, slamming the negativity in sports coverage.
‘We can all acknowledge that sports is the last part of society that universally brings people together. So why can’t the coverage do the same? It’s only click bait when you say it,’ Kleiman wrote at the time.
‘When the platform is so big, you can make the change and allow us all an escape from real life negativity. I for one find it all a waste of breath. The Olympics and JJ [Redick] and Bron’s show was the future of what this can and should all be.’
‘AMEN!!’ James posted, along with a salute emoji.
Just minutes later, he posted his bizarre goodbye to social media, which also came one day after he said ‘everybody on the Internet called me a liar all the time.’