Lakers stars LeBron James, Anthony Davis set to make preseason debut

LeBron James and Anthony Davis will make their preseason debut Sunday against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, the two Lakers stars ready to join their team after resting Friday during a preseason-opening loss to Minnesota.

“I think we want to carry over with what we did today at practice,” James said Saturday. “I think we were very intent on what we want to accomplish going forward. I think yesterday was one of those first games. It’s been a while since a lot of guys have played in a game setting. And it looked that way.”

James said his son Bronny, who scored two points and blocked three shots in the opener, was bound for a real adjustment period. The two spoke about the game after, but Bronny said he preferred to keep the details private.

“For him, it’s obviously an adjustment,” LeBron said. “Every rank that you climb, it’s always an adjustment to get used to it. When he went to high school from middle school, from high school to USC and now to the pros, it’s always an adjustment to make. I think the more and more time he’s out on the floor with pros, the speed, the cadence, you get better and better the more time you put on the floor. And you’ve got to think that he lost pretty much a third of last season because of the [heart] condition.

“But he’s gotten better and better everyday. He continues to put the work in. And it’s up to us as the veterans and the guys out here to try to help him and help Dalton [Knecht], help all the young guys.”

For Knecht, who scored 16 points in his first game, the runway could be short.

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Lakers fall to the Timberwolves in preseason opener

Bronny James made his only basket in the fourth quarter while Dalton Knecht and Austin Reaves had a team-high 16 points each against Minnesota.

Oct. 4, 2024

“He’s a pro,” LeBron said. “He’s ready to go now.”

Bronny said Knecht is an “amazing player.”

“I’ve been working with him for over two months now. And, you know, I love that guy,” Bronny said. “He’s awesome.”

JJ Redick, who coached the Lakers for the first time, said the defense in the opener was too messy, something that had him second-guessing himself

“I was most disappointed with was our one-through-four reds, which is our switching. I just was really disappointed,” Redick said. “We didn’t execute that at all. Like, we maybe executed it less than 10% of the time. It’s something we’ve drilled and it was very clear in the pregame meeting that that’s what we were doing. So you certainly question, like, ‘Am I not making this clear? Is it something I’m doing?’”

The Lakers seemingly responded Saturday.

“The group is in a good spot,” Redick said. “And we talked about being a process team and we’ve been focusing on just the daily work to get better. We’ve done that and we did that again today. It’s been fun.”