:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68475562/1229036051.0.jpg)
As the Los Angeles Lakers continued training camp on Monday, LeBron James spoke to the media for the first time since signing his extension to remain with the team until 2023, but the most notable thing he said had nothing to do with that; far more interesting was the fact that he no longer seems as diametrically opposed to the idea of load management as he was last season.
On the latest episode of “Lakers, Explained” — a podcast by Silver Screen and Roll — co-hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed what they think James’ latest remarks might mean and how often the Lakers should rest him, but first they had to take a few minutes to do something that has been a theme for the Lakers this year: Laughing at the Houston Rockets as they go down in flames.
After that was done, the guys got into the latest reports on the NBA’s resting policies: How the league will fine teams for resting stars during nationally televised games, as well as changing their stance on load management to be more permissive of players sitting out games that aren’t on national TV. Harrison and Anthony discussed their thoughts on the policies, where they might be coming from and whether or not they agreed with them before moving on to how they could affect James (and, as a result, the Lakers).
Finally, Anthony and Harrison finished up the show by talking about the news that Quinn Cook is returning to the Lakers on a contract that isn’t even guaranteed, and why they can’t bring themselves to get too worked up one way or the other about the signing.
You can listen to the entire podcast in the player embedded below, and to make sure you never miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.
You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen. and Anthony at @AnthonyIrwinLA.