LeBron Out for Opener; Vanderbilt Hurt

LeBron James has been diagnosed with sciatica and will miss the Lakers’ season opener on Oct. 21; the team and James are targeting a cautious return around mid-November after an Oct. 30 re-evaluation, meaning he could miss roughly 12–14 games. Los Angeles has struggled in the preseason (1–3) while routinely resting veterans as coach JJ Redick manages minutes and injuries ahead of the regular season. In Wednesday’s preseason loss to Dallas, Jarred Vanderbilt exited with a left quad contusion and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, leaving his short-term status uncertain even as he could take more early-season starts with James sidelined. Players regularly rested during the preseason include Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent.