LeBron James Excused from Lakers' Practice for Personal Reasons, JJ Redick Says

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James did not practice with the team on Wednesday after sitting out Sunday's win over the Portland Trail Blazers due to soreness in his left foot.

"LeBron is not with the team right now," head coach JJ Redick told reporters after practice. "He's out for personal reasons, excused absence."

"I don't know yet," Redick added when asked by reporters if James would join the team on its Thursday flight for Friday's matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. "Again, it's personal reasons, so he's taking some time."

Max Christie, meanwhile, said the team adjusted without James at Wednesday's practice.

"Having a leader like that that's not here is tough, but I know some of that stuff is out of our control," he told reporters. "It's kind of like a next-man-up mentality, still, even in practice. The guys still competed really hard even though he wasn't here. There was some good leadership, there was good vocalization for us as a team, good collaboration, so it was a good practice."

James, 39, has missed just one game this season and has played 35 minutes per contest, averaging 23 points, 9.1 assists and eight rebounds while shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from three. Given his age, however, keeping him fresh and healthy has remained at the forefront of the Lakers' minds.

"In game, he's asked for a sub a couple times because he's gassed," Redick told reporters Wednesday. "For us, we have to be cognizant as we play more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot of minutes and Sunday, being banged up with the foot thing, it felt like a good opportunity for him to get some rest."

His teammates didn't seem particularly worried about James falling behind after missing a day of practice.

"I mean, we know he already knows everything," Christian Koloko told reporters. "He's going to come back and he's still going to be the same. He's going to give everything on the court. We just got to do our part and just get better so that when he comes back, he can just look at us and be like, 'Oh, yeah, [they] were actually working,' when he wasn't there. But we know he'll come back and just pick up everything. He's been in the NBA for a long time."