LeBron James is taking some time off the court.
The Los Angeles Lakers power forward missed their game against the Portland Trail Blazers Dec. 6 due to a sore foot, and he may not be back in time to play against the Minnesota Timberwolves Dec. 13.
“LeBron is not with the team right now,” Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters after practice Dec. 11, per ESPN. “He’s out for personal reasons, excused absence.”
E! News has reached out to the athlete’s rep for comment and has not heard back.
Unfortunately, sitting out their match against the Washington team means the 40-year-old will no longer play all 82 games, which was his goal at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t easy for the Lakers, as teammate Max Christie noted that they’ve had to adjust without LeBron at practice.
“Having a leader like that that’s not here is tough, but I know some of that stuff is out of our control,” he explained. “It’s a next-man-up mentality, still, even in practice. The guys still competed really hard even though he wasn’t here. There was some good leadership, there was good vocalization for us as a team, good collaboration, so it was a good practice.”
