NBA
For the first time in his professional career, LeBron James will miss a season opener
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated7 hours ago on October 10, 2025
To begin the 2025-26 season, the Lakers will be without one of their top players. LeBron James is currently dealing with sciatica in his right ankle. On Thursday, NBA insiders announced that James is set to miss three to four weeks for Los Angeles.
That means that James will be unavailable for their first game on Tuesday, October 21. For the first time in 23 professional seasons, LeBron James will miss the season opener. James has missed the team’s first two preseason games due to injury and has yet to fully practice. The Lakers will play it cautiously with James as he enters the 2025-26 season injured.
LeBron James will miss time to begin the 2025-26 season for the Lakers
For the first time ever, LeBron James will miss a season opener, per @hoopshype
Crazy 🤯 pic.twitter.com/oH842g7xcg
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 9, 2025
In the upcoming year, LeBron James will play in a record-breaking 23rd professional season in the NBA. He broke a tie he had with Hall of Famer Vince Carter at 22 seasons—another accolade for LeBron in his historic career. On Thursday, October 10, NBA insiders announced that James is dealing with sciatica in his right ankle. Unfortunately, he’s set to miss three to four weeks for the Lakers.
Barring James making a rather quick recovery, the 40-year-old will miss their first game of the season. It would be the first time in LeBron’s career that he misses the season opener. Unprecedented territory for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Could this be the first time in LeBron’s career we start to see a decline in his production?
Lakers star LeBron James is sidelined for at least 3 to 4 weeks due to sciatica on his right side. He is out for the start of the 2025-26 NBA season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 9, 2025
In 2024-25, James played and started 70 of 82 games for the Lakers. King James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. All while averaging 34.9 minutes per game. On Thursday, Lakers’ head coach JJ Redick spoke with reporters. He told them that LeBron is “on his own timeline.” While insiders reported that James will take three to four weeks, he will take as much time as he needs to be at full strength for Los Angeles.
This is not the news that Lakers fans wanted to hear ahead of the 2025-26 season. While James could miss time, Los Angeles does have a superstar in Luka Doncic. The team has been resting their superstar PG during the preseason. Doncic will have an opportunity to carry the Lakers early on in the year. It will be his first full season with Los Angeles after the trade in 2024-25. How far can the duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic take the Lakers this season?
