LeBron James: 'I Understand' Why Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson Comment on Workload
For all the handwringing over LeBron James' playing time, the Los Angeles Lakers star doesn't seem too concerned about his workload.
Per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin, James noted he understands why Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant have spoken out about the minutes he's already played this season:
"I understand the logic behind it. I understand what Magic and Kobe are saying because we want to continue to grow the young guys. We want to see how much our young guys can grow and be the best they can be. I mean, Magic and Kobe know who I am. I know who I am. They know what they're going to get out of me."
During an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio last week, Johnson pointed out the Lakers were paying attention to James' minutes to avoid a pattern that developed during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers:
Bryant broached the topic during a Lakers All-Access event on Monday.
"It is a recipe to keep your head above water, to give yourself a little breathing room, and now it's going back to teaching how to play the way that we want to play," Bryant said, via McMenamin.
James led the NBA in minutes per game in each of the past two years, including 36.9 minutes during the 2017-18 campaign. The Lakers have been able to scale him down slightly to 34.7 minutes through 23 games this season.
Even though James has never been significantly hampered by injuries in his career—he's only missed more than eight games in a season once since 2003-04—he's going to turn 34 on Dec. 30.
Bryant made it through his age-34 season averaging 27.3 points, 5.6 assists and 38.6 minutes per game. His body started breaking down the following year with a fractured left knee that only allowed him to play six games in 2013-14 and a torn rotator cuff the next season.
The Lakers are rolling right now with 10 wins in their past 13 games to get a season-high five games over .500 at 14-9. James' presence will get Los Angeles where it wants to go, but keeping him as close to 100 percent in March and April is an essential task for head coach Luke Walton and the front office.
