James to miss the start of new NBA season

LeBron James has been ruled out for up to four weeks and will miss the start of the NBA season with sciatica, Los Angeles Lakers have confirmed

James, 40, signed a new contract with the Lakers in June and is set to become the first player to play across 23 separate NBA seasons.

Sciatica is a pain in the sciatic nerve that goes down the lower back and through the leg.

James has not taken part in pre-season and missed the defeats against the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns earlier this month because of the glute nerve irritation.

The American is expected to be sidelined for all five of the Lakers' games in October, including the season-opener against Golden State.

James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, has never previously missed the start of the season in his 22-year career.

His tally of 1,562 regular-season appearances is just 50 short of breaking former Boston Celtics star Robert Parish's NBA record.

The four-time NBA champion featured in 70 of the Lakers' 82 games last term and played on 71 occasions in the year before.

Last season, James averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game and finished sixth in Most Valuable Player vote.

The Lakers qualified for the play-offs in 2024-25 but lost 4-1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.