LeBron James Injury Timeline Rumors Mean Lakers Must Fix Chemistry Fast

The Los Angeles Lakers dropped Tuesday’s opener 119-109 against the Golden State Warriors. While the game never quite felt as close as the final score might indicate, it’s worth remembering that one of L.A.’s best players was on the sideline.

For the first time in his NBA career, LeBron James was unavailable for his team’s opener. He’s out with Sciatica, and it’s unclear when, exactly, he’ll return.

“He has his own timeline,” coach JJ Redick said, per Devon Henderson of The Athletic.

On Wednesday, however, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania told The Pat McAfee Show that James isn’t expected to make his debut until “mid-November-ish.”

According to Charania, James’ injury first occurred in late July or early August, which would obviously mean that the 40-year-old didn’t go through his typical preseason routine. When he is healthy enough to return, he might not be ready to jump into his regular high-volume workload.

What this means is that the Lakers may have to navigate roughly a month of the 2025-26 season without James as a centerpiece player. While it’ll certainly be more important for L.A. to have James healthy late in the season and for the playoffs, this still presents a big potential problem.

The Lakers team we saw on Tuesday looked like one that could legitimately struggle to keep pace in the West while James is out. Luka Dončić was offensively fantastic, and Austin Reaves complemented him well. However, the Lakers’ overall chemistry was off.

According to forward Rui Hachimura, this roster simply hasn’t gotten the reps together that it needs to contend with a team like Golden State.

“We’re still trying to get our rhythm. We had a lot of practices, but also in the game…especially against the Golden State, they’ve been playing together for probably four or five years. I think that was the difference,” Hachimura said, per Edwin Garcia of Silver Screen and Roll.

That lack of chemistry was most apparent during the third quarter, when the Warriors went on a 17-4 run. Third-quarter struggles are nothing new for the Lakers, of course.

“The trend I see is that we continue to be a terrible third quarter team,” Redick said, per Garcia. “That was last year, that was the preseason. Got to rethink some things.”

A lack of familiarity isn’t solely responsible for L.A.’s post-halftime struggles, but a stronger rapport could certainly help in that department.

It would help throughout the game for Redick to find ways to get new center Deandre Ayton involved more effectively. He was on the court for 34 minutes against Golden State and often appeared to be more of a liability than an asset.

Ayton was a respectable 5-of-7 shooting but logged just a single block and four defensive rebounds on the other team. His lack of chemistry with the rest of the squad also led to some missed offensive opportunities, according to Reaves.

I had five turnovers tonight,” Reaves said, per Corey Hansford of LakersNation.com. “…a couple of them were just miscommunications on where I needed to throw a pass to DA. It wasn’t the wrong read. It was the wrong pass at the right time, basically.”

The good news is that the Lakers should start playing better together as a unit as the season goes on. It’s critically important, though, that they improve their chemistry quickly, or else they’ll risk putting themselves in a massive hole before James’ return.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, who reached the Western Conference Finals last season, are on deck for Friday.

Since James joined the Lakers in 2018, L.A. has gone 56-79 without him. Obviously, the presence of Dončić gives the Lakers a more potent LeBron-less roster than it has had in previous years. However, there’s no denying that Los Angeles must play more like a cohesive unit if it’s going to win consistently without James.

And the Lakers must do just that. One thing they can’t afford to do this year is spend much of the season chasing an early deficit, as they too often have in recent years.