LeBron James called out the NBA for scheduling a one-off preseason game for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Milwaukee Bucks, as the Lakers have to travel over 1,750 miles for the matchup to take place. While fans have been mocking James for his complaint, there is a good reason behind the frustrations when you look at the Lakers’ preseason schedule as a whole.
The Lakers are scheduled to play six preseason games, with two games already being played against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns. None of these games took place at the Lakers’ home due to renovations at the Crypto.com Arena. Their games against the Wolves and Suns were played at Palm Desert, California and the team took a two-hour bus to make it there.
Their one-off against the Bucks in Milwaukee will be followed by their final three preseason games being played over just four days, starting with a game against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas, another matchup against the Suns in Phoenix, and their final game coming on the road to the Warriors.
What LeBron has seemingly ignored about the trip to Milwaukee is that this was a scheduled matchup that the Lakers and Bucks agreed upon over a year ago, as the Bucks traveled to Los Angeles for a one-off preseason game last year. The Lakers are merely returning that favor, so LeBron’s outburst was almost entirely pointless.
Starting the season with a heavy travel schedule like the Lakers have is less than ideal, but this is a problem LeBron needs to take up with the brass of the organization. The NBA doesn’t force teams to play a certain number of preseason games, all they do is put a cap of six preseason games, with the Lakers booking themselves for six games.
This is likely to give JJ Redick as many reps as possible before he enters his rookie coaching season, but even Redick believes this travel schedule has been less than ideal for the franchise, who will play their first game of the season on opening night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
D’Angelo Russell Isn’t Bothered By The Preseason Load
LeBron James is entering Year 22 in the NBA after a busy summer alongside teammate Anthony Davis, as they brought home a Gold medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics. James and Davis are carrying small levels of fatigue into the season, but younger stars like D’Angelo Russell are raring to go, as he revealed to ESPN earlier this week.
“I think for guys like AD and Bron who played all summer in the Olympics, they’ll be load managing those guys. But the rest of us are still hungry. We want to go out there and play every game and put the Laker uniform on and see how the crowd responds to whoever is out there on the floor. Get some energy from that.”
Russell averaged 18.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 6.3 assists last season, shooting 41.5% from three in a year where his performances fluctuated greatly. Russell is loving life under coach JJ Redick, so he’s going to want to maximize this preseason in getting himself ready for a crucial contract year.
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