LeBron James brought an ‘amazing’ experience to the South Bay

LOS ANGELES – This past week saw a reversal of roles Los Angeles Lakers in a somewhat humorous way. Not only is it Brony James is the first to start his career, but LeBron James was assigned South Bay Lakers at G League for practice reps as he nears his return to the field.

LeBron James joined South Bay last week for two practices, and he did he is expected to be a full participant during the Lakers practice on Monday. Meanwhile, the Lakers are coming off a solid road win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, with Brony staring at point guard due to Marcus Smart’s illness.

The Lakers recalled James from the G League on Sunday morning before the South Bay’s next game against the Rip City Remixes. Even without James in the lineup, South Bay beat Rip City 113-111, and after that head coach Zach Guthrie was thinking about having the future Hall of Famer at practice this week.

“To have the greatest player of all time join your practices, first of all the opportunity for each of us to be a part of that. To be just a small part of his journey, his 23rd season, to get him back healthy and get him back playing … is an amazing experience and something amazing for me as I plan to knock on Leron James’ practice, it’s quite a knock,” Guthrie said. “And for all our guys, an amazing experience.”

“And I thought the biggest thing was talking to them about two days of practice, I said, ‘look at this guy’s practice habits.’ “Look at how he’s first and how he approaches it, how his mind is completely locked, completely turned and completely focused,” Guthrie continued. “His preparation before and after, the way he takes care of his body is amazing. So there’s a lot to learn and a lot for our guys to take from it in addition to the great experience they had.”

While no specific decision has been made on when James could make his season debut, his first opportunity would be Tuesday for the Lakers’ home game against the Utah Jazz. As of publication, there has been no change to James’ status on the injury report.

James is entering his 23rd season in the NBA and will turn 41 before the New Year. He was selected to his 21st All-Star appearance last season and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. He appeared in a total of 70 games and averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.0 steals.