LeBron James has missed the first eight games of the Lakers‘ season and will remain on the shelf for at least a few more, but he’s making progress toward his return to the court, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter video link).
“LeBron James has been working out individually, and I’ve been told that the next step for him is five-on-five live play,” Charania explained.
Charania adds that James will not be traveling with the team on its five-game road trip that starts in Atlanta this weekend, following Wednesday’s game against the Spurs. It’s not certain if that live action would occur with the team’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, who will be practicing in El Segundo, California, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, or if James will rejoin the team once it returns from the road trip on November 15.
As ESPN’s Malika Andrews notes in her conversation with Charania, this would indicate that the earliest James would return is November 18 against the Jazz.
The Lakers have started the season 6-2 entering Wednesday’s game against the Spurs, despite playing without not only James but also Luka Doncic, who has missed four of the team’s eight games.
McMenamin notes that once James appears in his first game, he will officially become the first player to play 23 seasons in the NBA.