Dave McMenaminNov 17, 2025, 04:56 PM ET
- Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
- Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — LeBron James was back practicing 5-on-5 with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday for the first time since the playoffs and said his return to game action is imminent.
“We’ve been taking it literally one minute, one hour, one step at a time throughout this whole process,” James said. “So, see how I feel this afternoon, see how I feel tonight. When I wake up in the morning, we’ll probably have shootaround. So, just got to see how the body responds over the next 24 hours-plus.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick said it is “TBD” whether James will play Tuesday when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz. He was officially listed as questionable for that game.
James practiced for the first time all season after missing all of training camp, the full preseason and the first 14 games because of sciatica affecting his lower back and down the right side of his body.
“It definitely sucks,” James said of the time he was sidelined. “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.”
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James revealed that it was the second time he has dealt with sciatica — he also had it in the summer of 2023 — and that it was challenging to overcome.
“If you ain’t never had it, and people are making jokes about it, I pray you never get it,” James said. “It’s not fun.”
He added: “You wake up one day and you hope that when you step down from the bed that you don’t feel it. You go to bed at night, and you hope that when you’re in the bed that you don’t feel it. So, I’ve been doing pretty good with it as of late.
“There’s a lot of exercises and a lot of mobility things and a lot of things you can do to help it. So, I’m just keeping a positive mindset.”
James said the final step to feeling truly recovered will be getting his wind back.
“My lungs feel like a newborn baby,” James said. “That’s the most important thing. I got to get my lungs back up to a grown man. My voice is already gone. One day back, barking out calls and assignments and stuff, getting my voice working again. [There will] be a lot of tea and rest tonight.”
L.A. went 10-4 to start the season and will add the 21-time All-Star to its rotation.
“We talked about it in film: ‘We got a new player today,'” Redick said. “Everybody was excited. He introduced himself.”
For Lakers guard Austin Reaves and many others on the team, there was no introduction necessary.
“He is, in my opinion, the greatest player to ever touch a basketball,” Reaves said. “And I guarantee you, if you ask basically our whole team, a lot of the young guys would say he is their favorite player ever. So his presence, his ability to lift up a team and obviously his IQ [are all welcome additions].
“It’s just, it’s good to have him back.”
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