LeBron James Says Why He’s ‘Not Upset’ Over Limited Minutes In Lakers’ Loss Vs. Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers lost the season opener to the Denver Nuggets. NBA analysts predicted a win for the Lakers mostly because they were really hyped to seek revenge. The team lost the Western Conference Finals to Nikola Jokic and his team in the postseason. Well, they also lost the first game of the season. LeBron James saw limited minutes in the game, but he seems to be happy with the outcome.

LeBron finished the game with 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. His team lost the game, but LeBron is happy with his performance and productivity. He averaged 35.5 minutes in the 2022-23 NBA season and played 29 minutes in the game vs Denver.

LeBron muscles his way inside for the slam 💪pic.twitter.com/YohJ58FjAM

— LakeShow (@LakeShowCP) October 25, 2023

“Besides the fact that we didn’t win, I think for me, my performance and what I did individually in the time that I was out there, I think I was productive,” LeBron said following the game. “I think so. I mean, I was a plus-7 for the game. No turnovers. I like the no turnovers more than anything.”

LeBron performed well despite his limited minutes

If you ask LeBron, he’ll say that he’d rather play the entire game. He was built to play the entire game.

“I always want to be on the floor,” he said postgame. “Especially when you got an opportunity to win a game or you feel like you can make an impact. But this is the system in place and I’m going to follow it.”

Ham cut LeBron’s minutes and the four-time NBA champion will probably continue playing at the same pace. Of course, this depends on his health condition.

“It’s going to be a day-by-day process, gauging how he’s feeling, get communication from him, our training staff, our medical staff,” said the Lakers head coach.

LeBron if he's upset or surprised by his minutes: “Nah, I’m not surprised. I already talked to Coach. We had a game plan going into game one. Not surprised or upset." https://t.co/GUZLNePN7M

— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) October 25, 2023

In Tuesday’s game, LeBron played a few short stretches of up to 6 minutes. Ham will proceed with the same gameplan.

“It’s easy with him to get caught up in the emotion of the game and you tend to forget you want to play these long stretches,” said Ham. “But in order for him to be as effective as possible, we have to be mindful of the minute output and how long his stretches are.”

LeBron and the Lakers lost the first one of the season, but plan to win most of the games this season. They look and feel good and yes, it is showtime!