NBA: LeBron James Schedule To Be Managed, Lakers Coach Says

LeBron James is entering his 17^th season in the NBA when the 2019-20 campaign begins and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has made it well clear that the small forward will need game management during the pre-season. James is expected to game limited game time but most of it is going to be alongside Anthony Davis.

The Lakers will play six games once pre-season gets underway with two of them against Brooklyn Nets in China. Vogel admitted during the team’s recent press conference that James will not “play a ton” of minutes only enough for him to get familiar with his teammates and get on the same page ahead of the new season.

“We want to be intelligent," Vogel said, as quoted on ESPN. "We want to get him enough reps to get him familiar with his teammates and get everybody on the same page, some cohesiveness. But certainly going to be intelligent and not overdo it in the preseason."

Davis is the new high profile addition to the Lakers this summer and Vogel admitted that James will spend most of his minutes on court with the power forward in the hope of breeding familiarity between the two All-Star’s. Davis and James already seem to be on the same page with reports claiming the team with both of them on it dominated the practice games on Sunday.

"We saw a mismatch in LeBron and Anthony's team really sort of had their way with the other teams," Vogel said. "We had three teams out there, and those guys really performed at a high level on both ends of the floor."

The Lakers head coach will also have to decide the other three members who will form the starting lineup with Davis and James with Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope joining them during Sunday’s practice game.

Kyle Kuzma is still sidelined with an ankle injury and is unlikely to step on court until after they return from their tour of the Far East. He is expected to be among the contenders for a starting role alongside Davis and James.