The Los Angeles Lakers had their first game of the regular season on opening night, October 22, 2025, against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors won the game 119-109, and it was a close contest throughout the entire game as both teams scored 20+ points in each quarter.
Luka Doncic had a monster game with 43 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists while also playing on both ends of the floor with a substantial defensive effort.
But even though Doncic played great but the Lakers still didn’t look as good as they could have, and that prompts the question, when is LeBron James coming back?
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LeBron James Injury Update
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It was reported by the Lakers on October 9th that LeBron would miss about 3-4 weeks with a back injury. It was also recently stated by ESPN’s Shams Charania that James would be re-evaluated on October 30th. Shams also stated on The Pat McAfee Show that the type of injury James has was described to him as, “comes and goes, you feel it, you don’t really have like a set timeline.” He also said, “It’s not like there’s a treatment that you just do and it just heals, it’s time and how you feel.”
Shams iterated on The Pat McAfee Show that, “Sources tell me he’s going to be very, very patient with this injury. I’m told the Lakers and LeBron are looking at mid-Novemberish for him to make his debut.”
What Does This Mean for the Lakers?
Although Los Angeles lost to the Warriors, they did play well enough to give an inkling that things will be okay until LeBron returns. But if things start going south for the team, would there be a chance that LeBron James comes back early to right the ship?
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