JJ Redick Discusses Balancing LeBron's Age and Injuries

The Los Angeles Lakers are cruising. They’ve won seven straight games, and are sitting at 15–4, good for the third-best record in the NBA and the second seed in the Western Conference. 

They’ve accomplished all of this with LeBron James out of the lineup for much of the season. However, now that LeBron has returned, there are questions about how much the Lakers should really be playing James. The Lakers have had great success without LeBron, and they are more interested in having a healthy LeBron come playoff time than for some games in December. 

Lakers coach JJ Redick recently spoke about how he plans to balance LeBron’s playing time, knowing that if he misses many more games, he won’t be eligible for major NBA awards. 

"No, we're going to build him up, hopefully, to be able to play in back-to-backs. That's the goal. But you are correct. Every back-to-back is a case-by-case. That's just the reality of the NBA right now. But we want him to be able to play in back-to-backs. So does he. So, we're going to work toward that... I want all my guys to get whatever award they deserve. Of course, I want, you know, Austin, Luka, LeBron, like whoever, I want them to get awards. That's great for them, but... the list of things that you have to worry about and think about as a player and coach, it's so far down the list."

It sounds like JJ and the Lakers are going to be less concerned about LeBron being eligible to win awards than they are about the star's health. At his age, that is probably the right decision. LeBron has plenty of accolades, but his health entering the playoffs will give him the best chance of grabbing that fifth title.