By Justin GrassoShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberLeBron James returned to action on Monday night for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Phoenix Suns.
The NBA superstar has been dealing with a minor foot injury, which prevented him from opening up the back-to-back set available for the first game. James’ minutes weren’t limited on Monday, but his production hardly made a dent in the Lakers’ blowout loss.
Late in the game, many wondered if LeBron’s double-digit scoring streak would finally end. He had 1,296 games of at least 10 points scored in a row heading into Monday’s action. A late bucket got him to 10 before he checked out for the rest of the game.
On Tuesday, the ex-NBA veteran Chandler Parsons called out James for seemingly stat-padding.
...“I got to be honest, I didn’t like it,” Parsons said on FanDuel TV’s ‘Run It Back.’
“This was the first time in my life I saw an older LeBron James, who played and looked like his age. After sitting out the night before against New Orleans, I thought this was a perfect night for him to just go crazy and kind of carry this team to a victory. Luka went nuts early on, Austin Reaves was struggling, and LeBron James, he did not look like himself. For me, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him like that. It was a nice gesture for JJ to keep him in there, and he definitely was hunting for it, and he was not coming out until he got it. This just felt like the first step of on the way out—catering to his legacy instead of focusing on this season and the game that was already over. Congrats, I guess, but I just didn’t love it, and it was just obvious what he was doing.”
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LeBron has seen better games. During his 31 minutes of action on Monday, he shot just 3-10 from the field, missing all but one of his four shots from beyond the arc. Along with his 10 points (season-low), LeBron produced three assists and turned the ball over three times.
The Lakers' winning streak snapped at seven after they collected a 125-108 loss against the Suns.
James recently returned after missing the first 14 games of action this season. Heading into the 2025 preseason, it was revealed that LeBron was dealing with a sciatica injury. He made his season debut on November 18 against the Utah Jazz, with a 29-minute showing.
The star forward played in four games in a row before missing his first set of action on Sunday. The Lakers will get the next two nights off before making a return to the court on Thursday night to take on the Toronto Raptors. That game starts up another back-to-back, as the Lakers will see the Boston Celtics on Friday.
For all the latest NBA news and rumors, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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