Lakers' LeBron James: Exceeding Minutes Limit in Win over Suns Was 'Easy Answer'

Two days after Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said the team was going to monitor LeBron James' minutes early in the season, the four-time NBA MVP took matters into his own hands in Thursday's 100-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

James told reporters after the game it "was an easy answer" to play the entire fourth quarter and lead the Lakers' comeback win.

There was some discussion after Tuesday's season-opening loss to the Denver Nuggets about James only playing 29 minutes.

Ham said afterward the "likelihood" is James' minutes would be monitored in an attempt to keep him healthy for the entire season. James also confirmed the plan, though he didn't sound 100 percent on board with it.

To Ham's credit, he abandoned the plan because his team had a chance to win the game. James said after the game the Lakers coach asked him if he could play the entire fourth quarter.

The Lakers were trailing by 12 points after three quarters. They outscored the Suns 28-11 in the fourth quarter, with James scoring or assisting on 14 of those points. He made back-to-back layups in the final 90 seconds to break a 91-91 tie.

James finished the game with 21 points, nine assists eight rebounds and was plus-22 in 35 minutes.

It's understandable why the Lakers would want to be careful with James at this stage of his career. He's 38 years old and has missed at least 26 games in each of the past three seasons.

The Lakers went 13-14 in 27 games without the future Hall of Famer last season. They were fighting to make the play-in tournament before he returned to the lineup on March 26 after missing 13 games due to a foot injury.

There will be games when Ham can rest James for extended periods of time, but starting this season with back-to-back losses to Western Conference contenders would have been rough for a Lakers team with high expectations.

James and the Lakers will get a couple of days off before they take on the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.