He was born on December 30, 1984, past four in the evening, but LeBron James is giving the most Gen-Z energy right now. In that, he’s throwing out Adam Silver’s rules about load management and disregarding any kind of award eligibility in his 23rd season. He’s ready to slack off and not come to work every day. And you know what, he earned it.

He’s finally restoring the communication and offense back in the Lakers by taking charge and leading them to their fourth win in five games. James had 30 points with eight rebounds and assists each in the Lakers 103-111 win over the Pelicans. The last 10 points came from his his fourth quarter explosion.

After a dynamic offensive game from him tonight, the big question is, is he going to it again tomorrow? In San Antonio. Against healthy youngsters, Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.

When asked this egregious question, James made a big declaration. “Every back-to-back for the rest of the season is TBD. I am 41, I got the most minutes in NBA history… bank it right now.” He even reminded us of his date of birth and the exact time he was born to emphasize.

When he says it, he’s gesticulating big time with his left arm. But his right arm is unmoving for good reason. He had a massive tape on his right elbow.

It’s unclear what the injury is and when it occurred. But it looked enough to warrant a sick day.

Lakers injury report missed LeBron James’ memo

Lebron James is listed as ‘probable’ against the Spurs tomorrow. But he doesn’t listen to injury reports.

He had sciatica, he missed training camp, was sidelined in preseason, and missed three weeks of the 2025-26 season. Yet he came back, mostly put up double digits, and defied expectations. Throughout this season, James has not played a single back-to-back set. So asking him if he would is redundant.

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He may be using the Warriors’ handbook on protecting Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Al Horford during back-to-backs. There’s more consecutive sets on the Lakers schedule this month, on Jan. 12 and 13, and on Jan. 17 and 19. Hois self-proclaimed questionable status applies for those games and the rest of the season.

He’s comfortable with that too. In the same locker room presser, James declared he defers to Luka Doncic now. 

He knows how much the team needs both of them on the floor. “We’re just trying to weather the storm with the guys that we have. But, it is going to start with me and Luka, for sure. Every time we hit the floor. He has the ball in his hands. I’m going to have the ball in my hands. We have to make sure we are putting our guys in position offensively, and then defensively,” he said.

Redick too believes that Bron has bounced back from his injury issues and is needed on the team. They’re also without Austin Reaves right now. Which means playing without Bron could put the pressure on Doncic.

For now, James is a game-time decision. Some might say, ‘what about MVP’ and whatnot. Well, Bron didn’t care about losing his double-digit scoring streak. He’s past the age to care about individual awards.

He needs to play 33 games to surpass Robert Parish for most NBA games ever played. The Lakers have 48 games left in the regular season. James can afford to miss a handful of back-to-backs.