PALM DESERT \u2014 The Lakers will kick off their preseason slate Friday night without two of their top stars.
\nLuka Doncic joined LeBron James as Lakers who\u2019ll be sidelined for the preseason opener against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena.
\nThe team said Doncic won\u2019t play in the weekend\u2019s preseason games: Friday versus the Suns and Sunday against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
\nThe decision was a collaborative one with the team\u2019s performance staff after Doncic\u2019s EuroBasket run with Slovenia this summer.
\n<\/p>\n
James, who was a limited participant during training camp this past week because of nerve irritation in his glute, also won\u2019t be available.
\nMarcus Smart (Achilles tendinopathy), Adou Thiero (left knee swelling) and Maxi Kleber (quad injury) are also sidelined.<\/p>\n
The absence of these key players will undoubtedly impact the team’s performance in the preseason games. However, it also provides an opportunity for other players to step up and showcase their skills.<\/p>\n
The Lakers’ preseason has gotten off to a rocky start with several key players sidelined due to injuries. While this may be a setback, the team remains focused on preparing for the upcoming season. The decision to sit out Luka Doncic and LeBron James is a precautionary measure to ensure their health and readiness for the regular season.<\/p>\n
A: The decision was made collaboratively with the team’s performance staff after Doncic’s EuroBasket run with Slovenia this summer.<\/p>\n
A: LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Adou Thiero, and Maxi Kleber are also sidelined due to various injuries.<\/p>\n
A: The Lakers will play the Phoenix Suns on Friday and the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A: Yes, the story will be updated as more information becomes available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lakers Preseason Update Introduction to the Preseason PALM DESERT \u2014 The Lakers will kick off their preseason slate Friday night without two of their top stars. Luka Doncic joined LeBron James as Lakers who\u2019ll be sidelined for the preseason opener against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena. The team said Doncic won\u2019t play in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2238191141.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22321,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22318\/revisions\/22321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}