LeBron James Speaks Out Against Load Management: ‘If I’m Healthy, I Play’

In the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Miami Heat on Friday, LeBron James appeared to tweak his elbow.

As a result, following the Lakers’ win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, James was asked about the prospect of getting some rest via load management this season.

James took a strong stance against the practice.

“If I’m healthy, I play,” said James in response. “That should be the approach. Unless we’re getting to late in the season, we’ve clinched and we can’t get any better or any worse, then I could benefit from that

“Why wouldn’t I play if I’m healthy? It doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know how many games I got left in my career. I don’t know how many kids that may show up to a game that are there to come see me play”

Coming into this season, many speculated that the Lakers would have James sit out some games here and there.

The three-time NBA champ will turn 35 later this month and has logged over 47,000 minutes played in his career. He suffered his first significant injury of his NBA career last season and played in just 55 games.

The season prior to that, his final campaign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, James played all 82 regular season games for the first time ever.

Nonetheless, he’s been putting together an MVP-caliber run so far in the 2019-20 season. He’s averaging 26.1 points per game on 50.1 percent field goal shooting, while leading the league with 10.7 assists per game.