LeBron James missed the Los Angeles Lakers' victory over the New Orleans Pelicans as a precaution, coach JJ Redick has confirmed.

The four-time MVP missed the Lakers' preseason training camp and each of the first 14 games of this season due to sciatica.

James only made his first appearance of the campaign on November 18, before averaging 16.5 points, 8.3 assists and 5.0 rebounds in the next four games.

The 40-year-old was then left out on Sunday, as the Lakers prevailed 133-121 at Crypto.com Arena to make it seven straight wins.

Redick said the Lakers are managing James' workload, believing he is not yet ready to play in back-to-back games, with the franchise set to play the Phoenix Suns on Monday.

Seven in a row for the Lake Show pic.twitter.com/R57HfoVzoX

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 1, 2025

"It is an injury he's had in the past," the Lakers coach said before the clash with New Orleans.

"It's something we've had to manage in the past. Given the back-to-back and the fact that he's basically just coming off his training camp – this has been his training camp over the last 10 days or so – [we are] just being cautious."

James, however, could feature against the Suns, with Redick hopeful he will soon be ready to appear in successive games.

"We're going to build him up, hopefully, to be able to play in back-to-backs," the coach added. "That's the goal.

"Every back-to-back is a case-by-case, that's just the reality of the NBA right now. But we want him to be able to play in back-to-backs, so does he. So, we're going to work towards that."