NBA: LeBron James practices with Lakers ahead of potential return against Jazz

LeBron James returned to full 5-on-5 practice with the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, taking part in his first session of the season as he inches closer to making his on-court comeback.

James has been sidelined since the play-offs and missed training camp, the entire NBA pre-season and the opening 14 games because of sciatica.

After completing Monday’s workout, he indicated that his status for a return will depend on how his body responds in the coming days.

“We’ve been taking it literally one minute, one hour, one step at a time throughout this whole process,” James said after practice.

“So, see how I feel this afternoon, see how I feel tonight. When I wake up in the morning, we’ll probably have shootaround. So, just got to see how the body responds over the next 24 hours-plus.”

Lakers head coach JJ Redick described James’ availability for Tuesday’s home game against Utah as uncertain, saying it is “TBD.” The team officially listed the veteran forward as questionable.

James also acknowledged that missing the start of a season for the first time in his career has been mentally challenging.

“It definitely sucks,” he said. “Never in my life since I started playing the game of basketball have I ever not started the season. So it’s been a mind test, but I’m built for it and it’s been putting in the work, both mentally and physically, trying to get myself ready to rejoin the team.”

He also confirmed it is the second time he has dealt with sciatica, previously experiencing it in the summer of 2023, and described the condition as difficult to manage.

“If you ain’t never had it, and people are making jokes about it, I pray you never get it,” James said. “It’s not fun.

“You wake up one day and you hope that when you step down from the bed that you don’t feel it. You go to bed at night, and you hope that when you’re in the bed that you don’t feel it. So, I’ve been doing pretty good with it as of late.

“There’s a lot of exercises and a lot of mobility things and a lot of things you can do to help it. So, I’m just keeping a positive mindset.

“My lungs feel like a newborn baby. That’s the most important thing. I got to get my lungs back up to a grown man.

“My voice is already gone. One day back, barking out calls and assignments and stuff, getting my voice working again. [There will] be a lot of tea and rest tonight.”

The Lakers are 10-4 to start the season and are preparing to reintegrate the 21-time All-Star into the rotation. Redick said the team treated Monday as a fresh beginning with their returning leader.

“We talked about it in film: ‘We got a new player today,'” Redick said. “Everybody was excited. He introduced himself.”