LeBron James explains why he walked away from Lakers for ‘personal reasons’

LeBron James is taking each day as it comes, two weeks before he turns 40.

Sunday, Dec. 15 marked his return to the Los Angeles Lakers after missing two games over an eight-day span — and opened up about how he came to terms with abandoning his plan to play all 82 games in this season.

“If it was up to me, I probably would have played,” he told reporters Sunday after the Lakers’ 116-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. “It would have been hard to stay away from it. I have a team and I have to listen to them too. They look out for my best.”

In the midst of a shooting slump that at one point included going 0-20 from 3-point range and a sore foot, James took advantage of the team not advancing to the NBA Cup — which they won last year — and just two games into the run of a 10-day stretch.

“I had an opportunity to take several days and get my mind, body and everything where I wanted it to be tonight,” James said. “And it worked.”

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He added of his layoff: “A lot of rehab, a lot of training still to make sure I was ready to go tonight. I didn’t want to get too out of shape.”

It showed on Sunday with a performance of 18 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks in 34 minutes.

Earlier this month, James opened up about his shooting slump.

“It’s the rhythm. I just feel out of rhythm the last couple, three or four games,” James said at the time.

When pressed on what methods he plans to use to get his game back on track, the Lakers star replied, “Work. Just work. That’s all.”