LeBron James will not travel with the Lakers on their upcoming five-game tour of Atlanta, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Milwaukee, sources told ESPN.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James continues to train individually as he recovers from sciatica affecting his lower back and right side, and the next step in his recovery will be participating in 5-on-5 workouts, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Wednesday.
James will not travel with the Lakers on their upcoming five-game tour of Atlanta, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and Milwaukee, sources told ESPN.
While the Lakers are on the road, their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, will train at the team’s facility in El Segundo, California. It’s unclear if James will join the South Bay for workouts or wait for the Lakers to return from the road for a group session, sources told Charania.
This means the earliest James could return is Nov. 18, when Los Angeles hosts the Utah Jazz.
Last week, Lakers coach JJ Redick outlined a rough timetable for the 40-year-old veteran’s return to the team.
“Obviously, this has to continue to progress with all of their return to play protocols,” Redick said. “So we don’t have an exact date. It’s just in that time period. We hope that he has met all the requirements and that he will return in the second or third week of November.”
Thursday will mark four weeks since the Lakers announced James’ sciatica diagnosis on October 9. At that time, the team said they would re-evaluate it in 3-4 weeks and provide an update.
Los Angeles has started the season with a 6-2 record without James.
When James plays his first game with the Lakers, he will become the first player in league history to have played 23 seasons in the NBA.
