After sitting out for the Los Angeles Lakers’ 133-121 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night, star forward LeBron James will be back in action when the Lakers host the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
James is not listed on the official injury report for the matchup with Phoenix, so he’ll be good to go.
LeBron James will play vs. Suns on Monday night
James was held out against New Orleans because it was the first night of a back-to-back and he’s still in the ramp-up process after missing the first few weeks of the season due to sciatica. It’s commonplace for NBA teams to rest players fresh off of an injury on one leg of a back-to-back, and that’s exactly what the Lakers did with James. Luckily, the Lakers were still able to pull out a win without James’ services.
It remains to be seen whether or not James, in the midst of his 23rd season in the league, will play in both nights of back-to-backs at all this season. His agent, Rich Paul, has already indicated that he doesn’t want to see it.
“Look, at 41 years of age, I hope he is not playing back-to-backs,” Paul said recently.
However, Lakers head coach J.J. Redick said that the team plans to “build him up” when it comes to playing two games in two nights. Redick added that both James and the coaching staff have interest in him playing in some back-to-backs this season.
The Lakers have won seven straight games heading into the matchup with Phoenix on Monday night, including all four games that James has appeared in on the season. The meeting between the two teams will be the first of the season, though the two teams did meet twice in the preseason, with the Suns winning both contests.
