Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is a part of a new Netflix docuseries called “Starting Five,” which will give tremendous behind-the-scenes insight on the 2023-24 season of his along with other NBA stars Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler and Domantas Sabonis.
The series premiered on Wednesday, and the first episode focused on James and his minutes restriction to begin the season.
Going into his 21st NBA season, the Lakers tried to do everything they could to keep James fresh and healthy, putting together a minutes restriction plan. That’s something that LeBron was not accustomed to and he clearly wasn’t on board with it. After playing 29 minutes in the season opener, he went back to his usual workload and ended up finishing the season at 35.3 minutes per game, which was in line with the previous season.
In the first episode of “Starting Five,” James could be seen getting upset during the Lakers’ season opener against the Denver Nuggets due to his minute restriction:
Starting 5 on Netflix showing LeBron against the Nuggets season opener being annoyed at minutes restriction
"I know you got me on old man time percentages and sh*t. Play eight minutes and sh*t.
2 shots in 8 minutes just getting cardio. I hate this sh*t already, just garbage" pic.twitter.com/6uHemQybel
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) October 9, 2024
The Lakers wound up losing to the Nuggets that night while James had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his 29 minutes. He was a plus-seven in the box score, which means the Lakers were outscored by 19 in the 11 minutes he was on the bench.
Coming off a sweep in the Western Conference Finals to the Nuggets a few months prior, it’s understandable why James was upset that he was on a minutes restriction in the first game of the season when they were looking for some payback.
Unfortunately, James and the Lakers suffered a similar fate later that season, losing to the Nuggets in the first round in five games. That will surely be covered in the latter episodes of “Starting Five,” and it will be interesting to see LeBron’s reaction to how it all unfolds.
LeBron James breaks down Lakers’ offense
The focus for LeBron James and the Lakers now is on the 2024-25 season, and it’s fair to assume he won’t be on any minutes restriction under new head coach JJ Redick.
There will be some changes though, particularly to the team’s offense, and James recently discussed what he has seen so far in training camp and the preseason.
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