Limiting LeBron James’ playing time was a major topic of discussion heading into the new season for the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron, who is now in his 21st NBA season, can no longer handle the same exertion on a nightly basis, thus it will be up to Darvin Ham and the rest of the Lakers’ coaching staff to limit his playing time.

On Opening Night, when the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets, we all got a taste of what was to come as James only played 29 minutes. LeBron’s 21 points, 8 boards, and 5 assists on 10-of-16 shooting from the field in limited minutes weren’t enough to help the Lakers beat the champions.

According to NBA.com, Ham has stated that he plans to restrict LeBron James’ playing time within the following parameters, while he acknowledges that monitoring James’ workload will be an ongoing process.

One can only say, “We’ll see. If you ask Ham if they want to get James to 29 minutes, he will almost certainly say yes. We’ll have to take it day by day to see how he’s doing and hear updates from him, our trainers, and our doctors. Through consultation and discussion, we’ve developed a workable strategy. For him to be as successful as possible, we need to pay attention to the minute output and the length of his stretches, but it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the game and forget that you don’t want to play for so long when he’s on the field.

Throughout his whole career, LeBron has never averaged fewer than 33 minutes per game in a season. Although the competitiveness in him would like to see more playing time, the Lakers’ superstar has decided to go along with the plan, as reported by NBA.com:

Listen, I mean, I prefer the floor at all times. Especially if you’re in a situation where you can make a difference or win the game. However, I accept that this is the established order and will have to adhere to it.

It’s more difficult to accept the defeat when you consider the fact that he was effective for at least some of it. Even still, LeBron was cool with Ham’s substitution strategy because he was aware of it before the game.

“No, it doesn’t shock me at all. We’ve had a conversation with Coach. Before the first game, we had a strategy in place. I was neither shocked nor upset.

Even though the Lakers lost by 12 points, they were a plus-7 with LeBron James on the court. To keep James healthy for the rest of the season and the playoffs, the Lakers must limit his playing time, but if Ham can’t find the ideal lineups and rotation combinations, the team will struggle.