LeBron James is edging closer to suiting up again, but the Lakers star is stepping back into a team that has built real momentum without him.
After going through his first full practice on Monday and his status changing to questionable for Lakers vs. Jazz on Tuesday, he’s getting very close.
“We got a long time,” said James. “I mean, we’ve been taking literally one minute, one hour, one step at a time throughout this whole process. So, see how I feel this afternoon, see how I feel tonight. When I wake up in the morning. … We’ll probably have [a] shootaround [Tuesday]. So, just gotta see how the body responds over the next 24 hours-plus.”
He added, “Obviously, my lungs feel like a newborn baby. That’s the most important thing. I’ve gotta get my lungs back up to a grown man.”
The Lakers have weathered his absence better than anyone expected, sitting at 10-4 behind the explosive duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
And with James approaching his NBA-record 23rd season, he admitted the layoff has been an adjustment.
“It sucks. It definitely sucks,” James said. “Never in my life since I started playing the game of basketball have I ever not started the season — in my life. It’s been a mind test, but I’m built for it and it’s been putting in the work, both mentally and physically trying to get myself ready to rejoin the team.
“It’s just been kind of the same revolving door. Just repetition, repetition, repetition; rehabbing, rehabbing, rehabbing. Just trying to get back where I can feel like myself again. It’s great to be out here today.”
The almost 41-year-old likened his return to a kid going to a new school.
“I have to work my way back into it,” James said. “The guys have been going on road trips, shootarounds, flights. So it’s kind of like a kid going to a new school again.”
He’s back.
LeBron James getting up shots at the end of Lakers practice. pic.twitter.com/lOdu78y8x4
— Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) November 17, 2025
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