Plenty of NBA teams travel for preseason games, and many have gone farther than the Lakers this fall, but LeBron James isn't happy about their next trip
LeBron James isn’t happy with the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason schedule.
While five of their six games are manageable, it was this week’s quick trip from Southern California to Milwaukee that seemed to set the 39-year-old off. James took to social media Wednesday morning ahead of the team’s nearly four-hour flight from Los Angeles to Milwaukee for a preseason game with the Bucks on Thursday.
“Can someone please explain to me why we’re getting on a [plane] and heading to Milwaukee for one preseason game!?!?” he wrote, before adding that he was “surprised” at himself for even getting on the plane.
First of all, it’s not like James and the Lakers are flying commercially here. They’re taking a chartered team flight that will go directly to Milwaukee, which makes the roughly 1,750-mile journey as easy as it possibly could be.
And secondly, it’s not like the Lakers are the only team traveling for preseason games. The Bucks just played a preseason game in Detroit, for example, and they’ll head to Dallas for a game against the Mavericks next week. The Boston Celtics, who won the NBA title last season, flew to Abu Dhabi for a pair of preseason games against the Denver Nuggets earlier this month. That’s a roughly 6,700-mile journey one way. The Celtics will also fly to Toronto for a game against the Raptors next week.
The NBA does not control teams' preseason schedules, either. The Lakers built their own, and there is no minimum amount of games required to be played. Teams are allowed to play up to six. They are traveling to Milwaukee this preseason as part of a home-and-home preseason series after the Bucks traveled to Los Angeles for a game last October.
But in James’ defense, all six of the Lakers’ preseason games are away from Crypto.com Arena — which is currently undergoing renovations. That’s also temporarily displaced the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, who will open their regular season with seven straight road games.
The Lakers opened their preseason with a pair of games in Palm Desert, which sits about two hours east of downtown Los Angeles. After returning from their game at Fiserv Forum, the Lakers will close the preseason with a game against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas, a game at the Phoenix Suns and then a final game against the Warriors in San Francisco.
“Not an ideal preseason for us,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said Tuesday about their travel schedule, via ESPN.
So while he may not like it, the Lakers’ trip to Milwaukee isn’t out of the ordinary whatsoever.
James and the Lakers will officially open their season Oct. 22 at Crypto.com Arena. It will mark James’ 22nd in the league, which matches an all-time record, and his first season playing with his son, Bronny, whom the Lakers selected in the second round of the draft earlier this summer. They will become the first father-son duo in history to play in an official NBA game once they take the court together this season.
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