LeBron James Calls Out The NBA For Pre-Season Game In Milwaukee

The Bucks might be suggesting here that Giannis is out trying to recruit LeBron to the city but it's fair to say that ship has sailed with the way he's reacting about traveling there for a Thursday pre-season game.

Currently, the Lakers are just two games into their pre-season stint this year with losses against the Timberwolves and Suns at home. They get a three-day break before a battle against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday before returning back home to play the Warriors.

LeBron clearly isn't thrilled about traveling halfway across the United States for one pre-season game in the East. At 39 years old, every minute matters and he doesn't want to spend whatever spark he has left on meaningless pre-season games.

Unfortunately for James, as many fans reminded him, this is what comes with the territory of NBA stardom. He's earned $500+ million over his career and part of the job involves long hours in the plane traveling long distances. He should be used to it now with how many away games he's attended over the years.

After 21 seasons, James will likely play a limited role throughout the pre-season but new head coach JJ Redick is taking this time seriously to establish his game plans, perfect his approach, and figure out which rotations will work best to start the season.

This week, LeBron and his son Bronny even played in their first Lakers game together but it was just a taste of what's to come. With Anthony Davis healthy and a cast of veteran role-players fully bought in, the Lakers have ambitions to compete in the West and the early signs have looked promising so far.

The key to LeBron's continued success will be to preserve as much of his body as he can and to lighten the load wherever possible. The Lakers had extensive load management plans under Darvi Ham last year but now that he's gone, LeBron has been open about his detest for the practice.

What he'd rather see is the NBA adjust their schedule to avoid unnecessary travel and over-excursion on their athletes. To date, no fix has come close to approval and it could be a while before we see serious action to address the issue. For now, LeBron is doing his part to make the problem known and it's a safe bet that he's not the only player who feels this way.