Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving are among the players unable to compete in their upcoming playoff games due to injury, and LeBron James isn’t happy about it.
The Los Angeles Lakers star sounded off on the NBA via Twitter on Wednesday, saying the league did not allow players to get an adequate amount of rest before the 2020-21 season began.
James does have a point. He and the Lakers, along with the Miami Heat, had the least amount of rest after competing in the NBA Finals last season. The offseason was shorter in general due to COVID-19’s impact on the 2019-20 schedule.
Leonard is out indefinitely for the Los Angeles Clippers, who fear he might have suffered an ACL injury in Game 4 against the Utah Jazz this week. Irving is also out for the Brooklyn Nets after suffering an ankle injury in Game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Nets guard James Harden also suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1 against the Bucks but has since returned to the court. Chris Paul, meanwhile, is out indefinitely for the Phoenix Suns after reportedly testing positive for COVID-19.
Because of how grueling the past two seasons have been on players, they’re now opting out of participating in the Olympics in order to get proper rest ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. James is among several players who won’t play for Team USA at the Tokyo Games this summer.
