Charles Barkley: ‘LeBron James don’t have sciatica’

LeBron James was forced to miss opening night of the NBA season for the first time in his career, but Charles Barkley doesn’t appear to be sold on the reason for his absence.

Shortly before the start of the NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that James would miss the first few weeks due to sciatica. James reportedly began experiencing sciatic nerve pain while working out in late July or early August. But as Inside the NBA offered a look at the Lakers’ lengthy injury report, Barkley appeared to wonder whether James is really hurt.

“And first of all, LeBron don’t have a sciatica,” Barkley said of the 40-year-old. “They should just put old. O-L-D, with an extra D too.”

Maybe Barkley was just attempting to chide James for being old. Sciatica isn’t typically seen on injury reports because it’s not exactly a young person’s injury. Kudos to James for being in the NBA long enough to get sciatica on the injury report. But Barkley wondered aloud about James’ absence while the NBA is reviewing its rules around injury announcements in response to the FBI’s illegal gambling probe. And this isn’t the first time someone has expressed doubt about the injury, with Kevin Garnett recently speculating that James is just sitting out as a leverage play.

Additionally, there are rumors that James had his feelings hurt by the Lakers because the team has already transitioned to building around Luka Dončić, who is 14 years younger. Those rumors have only been fueled by NBA journalist Yaron Weitzman releasing a book titled “A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers.”

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported James is still rehabbing his sciatica injury and is likely to be out until mid-November. But maybe Barkley is right. Maybe LeBron is just old. Maybe the Lakers are trying to preserve a 40-year-old LeBron James for the playoffs. Maybe James is just taking time to assess his future with the Lakers. Or maybe, he really does have sciatica. Either way, it was surprising to hear Barkley question the Lakers’ injury report while on ESPN.