The NBA is just mere days away from the return of LeBron James as a Los Angeles Laker.
After spending the last few months rehabbing an offseason sciatica injury that’s kept him on the shelf, James has begun ramping himself back up to game speed, and the basketball community remains on the edge of its seat for year 23.
For the last week, James has been working out with the G League’s South Bay Lakers. Aside from astonishing the young and developing roster with his presence, he’s been using the practice facilities and participating in full-speed, five-on-five work to gear up for his return.
South Bay Lakers head coach Zach Guthrie recently spoke about James joining the team and what it’s like to have a four-time NBA champion in your gym every day.
“To have the greatest player of all time join your practice. First and foremost, what an opportunity for each and every one of us to be a part of it. To just be a small part of his journey, his 23rd season, getting him back to health and getting him back to playing where he should be playing with the Lakers is an unbelievable experience. Something unbelievable for me, as I’m typing up my practice plan, to type in LeBron James, is pretty crazy, right?
"For all of our guys, what an unbelievable experience. I thought the biggest thing, too, is I talked to them about the two days of practice. I was like, 'Look at this dude's practice habits. Look at how he's the first one in, how he approaches it, how his mind is, completely locked in, completely dialed and completely focused. His prep beforehand and after. How he takes care of his body is incredible.'
"There's a lot to learn and a lot for our guys to take from that, in addition to the wonderful experience that they had."
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Guthrie is only in his second year as South Bay’s head coach, having previously spent three seasons as an assistant with the Washington Wizards. Last season, he had the challenging but rewarding task of developing Bronny James — an ongoing project for the Lakers as they hoped to see him become a consistent member of the rotation.
Now, Bronny finds himself exactly in that position. Having found confidence on the defensive end — and given head coach JJ Redick a real reason to play him — Bronny has become a success story under Guthrie. And although LeBron has already cemented himself as the greatest player to ever step foot on a basketball court, Guthrie now becomes the first G League head coach to have practiced with both a father and son.
James is expected — though not officially confirmed — to make his season debut on Tuesday, Nov. 18, against the Utah Jazz. Many have already speculated how the offense will shift once James returns to the starting lineup, but it’s needless to say that adding a 21-time All-Star should certainly bring plenty of value.
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