Opinion: Loss of LeBron James for a month will impact the Lakers

The 2025-26 National Basketball Association regular season is 11 days away and there were some significant NBA news on Thursday. According to TSN, Los Angeles Lakers future Hall of Fame power forward LeBron James of Akron, Ohio will miss the start of the season with sciatica.

The length of time James is scheduled to be out for is three to four weeks. This will mean the NBA’s all-time leading scorer will miss the first, and possibly second week, of the 2025-26 NBA season.

In learning about James’s injury for the first time, my initial question was simply, what is sciatica? It was a health diagnosis I have never heard of before. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is irritation from the lower back to the legs. In many circumstances, the bottom is impacted.

Either way, this is not good news for the Lakers. But I guess, it could be worse. The Lakers still have Luka Doncic, who the Lakers got in a stunning deal with the Dallas Mavericks last year, and center DeAndre Ayton, who the Lakers signed from the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason.

Even at 40 years of age, James still has a lot to give and is a significant difference maker whenever he is on the court. Last year, he averaged 24.4 points per game, 8.2 assists per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, and one steal per game, with a free throw percentage of .513, three point percentage of .376, and a free throw percentage of .782. The Lakers play their first regular season game on October 21 when they host the Golden State Warriors.