LeBron James only logged 29 minutes for the Lakers in his team’s Tuesday night loss against Nuggets to start the season. Apparently, the limited amount of minutes was part of the plan and will be used going forward.
After the 119–107 loss, Lakers coach Darvin Ham explained his decision to play James less than 30 minutes.
“It’s easy with him to get caught up in the emotion of the game and you tend to forget you want to play these long stretches, but in order for him to be as effective as possible, we have to be mindful of the minute output and how long his stretches are,” Ham said, per ESPN.
David Zalubowski/AP
Despite his time on the floor being limited, James, 38, led his team in scoring with 21 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor. The four-time champion is playing in year No. 21 in the NBA and addressed his minutes restriction after the loss.
“Listen, I mean, I always want to be on the floor. Especially when you got an opportunity to win a game or you feel like you can make an impact,” James said. “But this is the system in place and I’m going to follow it.”
Up next, the Lakers will host the Suns Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on TNT.
