EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — While LeBron James is expected to be sidelined to begin the season as he recovers from sciatica on the right side of his body, the Los Angeles Lakers‘ other superstar, Luka Doncic, said he doesn’t feel compelled to do more in James’ absence.
“I don’t view it that way,” Doncic said after practice Saturday. “I just want to play basketball. If I do less, if I do more, whatever it takes for me to get a win.”
So far without James and Doncic, the Lakers are winless in the preseason, going 0-2 against Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors.
L.A. hosts Golden State in a preseason rematch Sunday, and Lakers coach JJ Redick said it is still being determined if Doncic will play.
Sunday starts a stretch of three preseason games in four days for the Lakers, continuing with a road game against Phoenix on Tuesday and the second night of a back-to-back against the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Redick said Doncic would play in two of L.A.’s remaining four preseason games.
Doncic was a full participant on Saturday after having his workload modified all week to save the 26-year-old guard some wear and tear after he played for Slovenia in EuroBasket this summer.
“I had [the] national team,” Doncic explained. “Playing one month or something of basketball [for Slovenia]. Obviously it’s a long season ahead, so just because of that.”
Now Redick has his work cut out for him trying to fill in for James while he is sidelined for the next three to four weeks before his sciatica is scheduled to be reevaluated.
“You hope that he’s back soon,” Redick said. “Those things can be tricky. … It is unclear what the starting lineup is going to be, that’s the reality, until he is back. We’ll have to figure that out.”
Doncic, guard Austin Reaves and center Deandre Ayton will occupy three of the five spots.
It’s the other two starting spots that Redick will examine, with Rui Hachimura starting 57 of the 59 games he played for L.A. last season under obvious consideration. Jarred Vanderbilt, who has started both preseason games so far and is the healthiest he has been since the Lakers’ 2023 trip to the Western Conference finals and free agent signees Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart give the team different options offensively and defensively.
Smart, who has also been sidelined to start the preseason because of Achilles tendinopathy, will play against the Warriors, according to Redick.
Redick said he has thought about having one lineup and rotation that fits best together when James plays and a separate one for when he doesn’t.
Doncic said he and James have “talked a lot” while observing the Lakers practice from the sidelines during training camp, which has helped with chemistry.
For the time being, all Doncic and the Lakers will be getting out of James during games is what the 40-year-old can provide with his voice from the bench.
“It’s a big change,” Doncic said of having to play without James. “He’s a great player. He can help us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality needs to be ‘next man up.’ We got a group of guys that have been practicing and hopefully LeBron can join us as soon as possible. We are going to obviously need him. But our mentality has got to be ‘next man up.’ That’s it.”
