Expert Doctor In Interventional Spine, Musculoskeletal Medicine Talks About Sciatica, How It Could Affect Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James will miss the start of the 2025-26 regular season because of sciatica on his right side.

Devon Henderson of The Athletic spoke with Dr. Santhosh Thomas, an expert in Interventional Spine and Musculoskeletal Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, about sciatica and how it could affect James.

“Disc herniation tends to be self-limiting,” Dr. Thomas said. “Most people get better within a few weeks, maybe a few months, but you can speed it up by having spinal injections.

“Or if you have profound weakness, you may want to consider surgical options. But most people do not need to go through the surgical route. Medication, rehab medication, either by mouth or spinal injections, can be very good alternatives to surgical options in these patients.”

James is the oldest active player in the NBA. He turns 41 in December and has been in the league since 2003.

The leading scorer in NBA history, James has one year left on his contract with the Lakers. He becomes an unrestricted free agent next offseason for the first time since 2018.

“Irritation of any of these nerves will present with symptoms, and they could be in different parts of the legs,” Dr. Thomas said. “It could be a lot of areas to figure out which nerve and what part of the nerve fibers are getting pinched.”

James appeared in 70 games last season. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks and finished sixth in MVP voting and made the All-NBA Second Team.

“If you’re alternating your gait or running pattern or twisting pattern just to protect yourself, you may use accessory muscles that normally are not used for that particular activity,” Dr. Thomas said. “Say you’re jumping and you’re afraid that this particular landing is going to affect you. You may change your stance, which may make new structures get involved. That can lead to new pain, new spasms in the back, which could be oftentimes muscles.”

James could make his 2025-26 season debut in mid-November, according to NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN.