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Lakers News: LeBron James, Anthony Davis to Play in Preseason Game vs. Warriors

Megan Armstrong

Just one more sleep until LeBron James and Anthony Davis are finally playing a game together as Los Angeles Lakers teammates.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters Friday that his two superstars "should be a go" in the team's preseason opener at the Golden State Warriors Saturday night. 

After requesting a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans in January, L.A. orchestrated a trade to land Davis in mid-June. 

At practice earlier Friday, the Lakers played with James at point guard and Davis at center. 

Davis told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times in mid-July that he prefers playing the 4 rather than the 5, but L.A. is using the lead-in to the regular season to test out multiple looks.

"We have so many different lineup packages that we can probably go to throughout the course of the season," James said, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "So we're just trying out a few things now in practice—going with smaller lineups, going with bigger lineups, going with quicker lineups, going with slower lineups. But that's the luxury of having our personnel—we have the ability to do multiple things. So that's what practice is all about, being able to work on those things."

James added that he doesn't want to be labeled a point guard but rather "a ballplayer" doing "whatever it takes to win." 

Veteran point guard Rajon Rondo figures to be the mainstay at the position, though Vogel noted that it will be "important that we stagger" the two.

The 34-year-old three-time NBA champion is coming off of an unusually long offseason due to missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005. With Davis as his new running mate, James will try to lead the Lakers to the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

"I'm very motivated," James told Mike Trudell of the team's official website. "But I'm right now not in talking-about-it mode. I've been very quiet this summer for a reason. My mother always told me: 'Don't talk about it. Be about it.'"

The Lakers will truly begin to be about it on Oct. 22 with their regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers.



   

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