LeBron James makes his Lakers return from personal reasons absence

LeBron James returned to the Lakers’ lineup Sunday night after missing their last two games due to personal reasons and a left foot injury, and while he told reporters he felt “pretty good,” the 40-year-old superstar also revealed that his foot injury hasn’t faded yet.

“It’s not behind me,” James told reporters after the Lakers’ 116-110 win over the Grizzlies, according to The Athletic. “It’s an everyday thing.”

James added that he has dealt with the foot injury for a few years, the outlet reported.

Head coach JJ Redick had previously described his “personal reasons” absence as an excused one.

Redick told reporters Wednesday that James — who missed his first game of the season Dec. 8 against the Trail Blazers — wasn’t with the team and would “take some time” before returning, and that included a second missed game Friday against the Timberwolves.

But he returned Sunday and finished with 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting, though that didn’t help a scoring average (23.0 points per game entering the night) on pace to be James’ lowest mark since his rookie season (20.9).

At one point during this recent slump, James missed 20 consecutive 3-pointers, though he connected on 6-of-11 shots from beyond the arc during his final game before the two-game absence and added another three 3s on Sunday.

“I felt my foot, felt my body … I did my pregame workout on that Sunday for the Portland game and decided it was probably best if I took that day off,” James told reporters, according to the AP. “I had the opportunity to take more days and get my mind, body and just everything where I wanted to be for tonight, and it worked out.”

James, whose son Bronny was drafted by Los Angeles in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft and has shuttled between the NBA and G League, and the Lakers (14-12) don’t play again until Thursday, when they travel to face the Kings.

“It’s very rare throughout the course of the season where you can take advantage of the schedule,” James told reporters Sunday, “and I was able to do that the past week.”