Draymond Green had some fun at LeBron James’ expense following the Golden State Warriors’ 119-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the season opener for both teams.
After the game, Green joked that James’ “old ass was over there in his Phil Jackson chair” watching on the bench due to the sciatica that prevented him from playing against his longtime rivals.
The reference is about the custom chair that Jackson used later in his career that sat much higher and had more padding than the standard NBA-provided chairs.
Jackson dealt with several health issues later in his coaching career, including two hip replacement surgeries in the span of eight months from November 2006 to June 2007.
James appeared to be carefully managing his sciatica injury while sitting on the bench during Tuesday’s game. He maintained a very still posture throughout, rarely reacting to what was happening on the court.
This marked the first time in James’ NBA career that he missed a season-opening game. The future Hall of Famer’s return timeline hasn’t been officially established, but he is reportedly targeting mid-November to get back into action.
Green and the Warriors were probably happy they didn’t have to deal with James. They held the Lakers to 8-of-32 shooting from three-point range and forced 20 turnovers to start their season off on a high note.
The Lakers’ lack of depth without James really showed up in this matchup. Luka DonÄić was great with 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 41 minutes. Austin Reaves added 26 points and nine assists. The rest of the team had a total of 40 points.
These two teams don’t meet again until Feb. 7 at Crypto.com Arena.
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