LeBron James and Anthony Davis will play in the Lakers' first preseason games in Palm Springs, Redick says

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — LeBron James and Anthony Davis will play sometime later this year Los Angeles Lakers The first two preseason games this weekend quickly got the two superstars back to work after a busy summer that included Olympic gold.

James And Davis could play in one or both games, new coach JJ Redick said Thursday before the Lakers headed to the Coachella Valley. Los Angeles faces Minnesota on Friday and Phoenix on Sunday in Palm Desert, California.

“They'll be playing this weekend, but we're still discussing what minutes and rotations look like for everyone,” Redick said after the Lakers' third practice of training camp.

This means James could be on the pitch at Acrisure Arena this weekend Bronny James, his eldest son and the Lakers' second-round draft pick. Father and son have never played in the NBA at the same time, let alone on the same team.

LeBron and Bronny are both looking forward to this moment – and so are the rest of the Lakers, who can already see in camp that the James family's natural competitiveness is coming to the fore.

“It's awesome to be able to be here and see it in practice,” Davis said Wednesday. “Bronny scored 3-over (LeBron), (and) everyone spoke clearly in Bronny’s favor. Then Bron came down and just bullied someone and got a layup. … Even though they couldn’t keep up, the competition is there, and that’s what we like to see.”

Bronny, who turns 20 on Sunday, is expected to get significant playing time in the preseason before spending much of the regular season with the South Bay Lakers of the G League.

LeBron James and Davis were part of the US team that won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. LeBron then took an extended vacation in Europe, but He went back to work last month is preparing for his 22nd NBA season, tying him with Vince Carter for the longest career in league history.

James was busy with the US team and did not speak at length with Redick, his former podcast partner, immediately afterwards Redick got the job at the end of June. But James and Davis have both spoken often with Redick this week about their plans and preparations for the upcoming season.

“It was just random text messages here and there talking about it, but now I’m diving in,” James said Tuesday.

Davis appears to be back in good health this fall after playing a career-best 76 games last season.

The Lakers are playing their entire preseason schedule outside of Los Angeles while renovations to their downtown arena are completed. They open the regular season on October 22nd at home against Minnesota.

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