LeBron James steps away from Lakers for ‘personal reasons’ as he plays some of the worst basketball of his career

LeBron James appears to be searching for answers as he steps away from the Lakers amid a worrying decline and swirling trade rumors.

“LeBron is not with the team right now,” Redick told reporters while at practice on Wednesday. “He’s out for personal reasons, excused absence.”

James missed his first game of the season on Sunday against the Blazers — a 107-98 victory — after previously setting a goal to play all 82 in his age-40 season.

Redick added that James would “take some time” after struggling mightily in his last few games, including an 0-for-20 stretch from beyond the 3-point line.

It comes during a lull in the Lakers schedule as they have four days between games — thanks to the NBA Cup — with their next matchup coming in Minnesota on Friday.

it is unclear if James will return for that game.

Also on Wednesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the Warriors will “definitely monitor” James’ status as they look for another star alongside Stephen Curry.

With the 82-game pipe dream now dead, the Lakers can focus on resting their all-time great forward and deploy him in more strategically.

James has appeared exhausted of late after playing in all 23 games up to that point, clearly conserving energy and putting in less defensive effort.

The advanced stats show James is slowly starting to show his age and it is trickling into his game.

James’ counting stats are still excellent, playing 35 minutes per game while scoring 23 points, with eight rebounds and 9.1 assists.

James’ -8.4 net rating is the worst among all Lakers starters and by far the worst figure of his career.

James also has a 12.5 percent turnover ratio, a career worst.

Perhaps some time off will do everyone some good as the league’s oldest team gets some time to recover, having just passed the quarter mark through the NBA season.

The Lakers had lost seven of their past 10 games after a promising 10-4 start under Redick.

“Heck, if somebody wants to go spend a couple of nights in Santa Barbara and relax, that’s fine too,” Redick said after the Blazers game.