Lakers vs Oklahoma City — Why is LeBron James not playing in NBA today?

LeBron James is sitting out the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ game against Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night to rest his injured left foot.

Lakers are already without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who are both sidelined for at least the rest of the regular season with significant injuries. Doncic, Reaves and James are averaging a combined 77.6 points per game this season, or 66.5 per cent of the Lakers’ typical nightly scoring output.

The Lakers also are without starting guard Marcus Smart (bruised right ankle) and back-up centre Jaxson Hayes (bruised left foot) against the NBA-leading Thunder.

The 41-year-old James has been dealing with left foot arthritis and discomfort for much of the regular season, and he has occasionally sat out games to rest. The visit from the Thunder will be the 22nd game he has missed in his unprecedented 23rd NBA season.

Although James’ absence is only a short-term decision to rest a veteran in a game that would be difficult to win with a full roster, the Lakers’ injury woes in the past week have badly damaged their hopes of being a championship contender in Doncic’s first full season with the club.

Both Doncic — the NBA’s scoring leader — and Reaves were injured during the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Thunder last week. Doncic incurred a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, and Reaves injured his oblique muscles.

The Lakers have indicated only that both Doncic and Reaves will miss the rest of this week, but their injuries typically take longer than that to heal in most athletes. Coach JJ Redick seemed to acknowledge Tuesday they’ll be significantly short-handed when the playoffs begin.

“Our playoff rotation is not set in the first round with AR and Luka being out, so we’ve got to evaluate everybody and we’ve got to find who those guys are that we can trust and put in the playoffs,” Redick said.

Doncic has left the Lakers to travel to Europe for treatment in an attempt to shorten his recovery time. Redick wouldn’t say how long Doncic is likely to be away from the team.

“I think he’s in good spirits,” Redick said. “In my conversations with him, he’s motivated to do everything possible. I know for him, it’s hard not for him to be on a basketball court. That’s his happy place, and he’s one of the handful of guys that really played year-round. … He wants to get back on the court.”

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In Lakers’ first game after losing Doncic and Reaves last Sunday, James had 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds, but the Lakers lost 134-128 to the struggling Dallas Mavericks.

James is averaging 20.8 points, 7.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game this season. He has knocked over another set of NBA records this season, most recently surpassing Robert Parish’s record for career games played.

Smart has been out since March 21, depriving the Lakers of a key defensive player and a veteran leader. Redick said the Lakers had thought Smart would be back by now.

“He was doing on-court work, and he wanted to dial it back (last week),” Redick said. “He had a great day today on the court, trending towards playing at some point this week.”

The Lakers’ visit from the defending champion Thunder is the first of three games in four days. They play at Golden State on Thursday and host Phoenix on Friday.

Published on Apr 08, 2026

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