LeBron James wants more rest

LeBron James has already missed a career-high 11 games this season.

He’s playing a career-low 36.1 minutes per game.

But he’d like to reduce his load even more.

LeBron, via Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:

I would love to get some more rest, especially going into the playoffs and knowing how important those games are, and how physically taxing those games can be, mentally as well, so we’ll see what happens.

The Cavaliers have surged to second in the Eastern Conference, 10 games behind the first-place Hawks and one game ahead of the third-place Bulls. It’s quite conceivable Cleveland will clinch the No. 2 seed well before the regular season ends. If that happens, it’ll be easy to sit LeBron before the playoffs.

But if the Cavaliers’ playoff position is unresolved, David Blatt LeBron will have a bigger dilemma determining when the superstar will play.

There are lot of factors. DNP-CDs DNP-LBJDs would diminish LeBron’s MVP case, and that apparently matters to him. Home-court advantage might be less meaningful, which would swing the scales from a higher playoff seed toward rest. How much of a beating he continues to take will surely affect his need for a break, too.

This isn’t the first time LeBron has expressed a desire to play less this season. It probably won’t be the last, either.