Lakers News: LeBron James, Anthony Davis Won't Play in Preseason Opener

LeBron James and Anthony Davis won't take part in the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason opener on Friday, according to head coach Frank Vogel. 

The reigning champs are set to take the court against the Los Angeles Clippers at 10 p.m. ET on Spectrum SportsNet. 

On media day, Vogel said one of the challenges early this season will be finding a balance for stars like James and Davis to stay rested after such a short offseason while remaining in game shape. James, who turns 36 this month, averaged 34.6 minutes per game during the regular season in 2019-20 and 36.3 minutes during the postseason.

"We don’t want to under-do it, and then he’s not ready to play in real games," Vogel said. "We don’t want to overdo it, [either]. I expect we’ll probably see him some, but not a ton. Enough for him to get ready for opening night."

It's been just 60 days since Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to capture the league title. 

Between the celebrations that followed and the quick turnaround for training camp, that didn't provide much down time. 

That means the Lakers will have to get creative in how they handle their two marquee stars this season—a task complicated by NBA's new load management rules. According to Yahoo Sports Chris Haynes, teams can be fined at least $100,000 for holding healthy players out of any high-profile, nationally-televised game this season. 

The Lakers' 16 games scheduled for national broadcast in the first half of the season leads the league.