At some point during Lakers'pre-season, Luka Doncic I'll play the game.
The question is when.
Although the Lakers coach was a full participant in Saturday's practice, JJ Redick said Doncic was “TBD” (to be determined) when asked if his star guard would play in Sunday's friendly against the Golden State Warriors at Golden State Warriors Stadium. Crypto.com Arena.
Redick said Austin Reaves will play and Marcus Smart will play in his first preseason game of the season.
The Lakers will play six preseason games, three of which will follow the game against the Warriors.
After practice, Doncic was asked when he would play.
“I don't know yet,” he said. “We'll have to talk to JJ and my team about it. So I don't know yet. But I'll probably end up playing two games in the preseason.”
When the regular season begins at home against the Warriors on Oct. 21, Doncic will not have a running mate. LeBron James next to him.
James was diagnosed sciatica problem on his right side, the Lakers told media Thursday, saying he would be re-evaluated in about three to four weeks.
James and Doncic formed a great partnership when they played together after their shocking blockbuster trade last February.
James' absence from the starting lineup this season should be concerning for Doncic and the Lakers.
“It's a big change,” Doncic said. “He's a great player. He can help us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality has to be a new person. We have a group of guys that are training and hopefully LeBron can join us as soon as possible. We'll obviously need him. But our mentality has to be a new person. That's it.”
Doncic will get a lot of help from Reaves, Smart, Deandre Ayton, Jared Vanderbilt and others if James is out.
However, Doncic is expected to carry a heavy load as James remains sidelined.
“No, I don’t think so,” Doncic said. “I just want to play basketball. If I do less, if I do more, that's all I need to win.”
James didn't practice at all, but Doncic said that didn't stop the two from realizing the team could still function at a high level.
“It's not just that on the court. That's what I said,” Doncic said. “It's about the chemistry off the court as well. So obviously it's a little more off the court now, but as we've been watching practice this week, we've talked about it a lot.”
Lakers move forward without James
They knew back in the summer that James had “nervous irritation,” Redick said, so it wasn't a complete surprise that James would develop a sciatica problem.
Redick said James was on the court “every day,” doing individual work. He simply didn't have the opportunity to train with his teammates.
Redick was asked how James' inability to participate in practice affected his game planning for practice and the start of the season knowing he wouldn't be available for a while.
» No, no impact on training planning,” Redick said. “And we haven’t planned the game yet, so there’s no effect.”
Redick hasn't paid much attention to his starting lineup during training camp and preseason games.
But with James turning 41 in December, entering his 23rd season and injured in training camp, Redick was asked if he could foresee having a starting lineup with James and one without him.
“Potentially. Yes, he said. – Something that has definitely crossed my mind in the last couple of days. Yes… You hope he comes back soon. These are the things, these things can be difficult. So I don't think it's…
“We knew that before training camp, so it didn't change anything about how we want to train or our philosophy for preseason games. It's unclear who the starting lineup will be, what the starting lineup will be. That's the reality until he comes back. We'll have to figure that out.”
