EL SEGUNDO — The news the Lakers shared shortly after Thursday’s practice made multiple things clear: LeBron James will miss Opening Night for the first time in his career because of sciatica (nerve pain) on his right side when the Lakers host the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 to kick off their 2025-26 regular season.

And the Lakers will likely have to play several games to start the season without James, who the team said will be reevaluated in late October or early November.

“It’s a big change,” Luka Doncic said after Saturday’s practice ahead of Sunday’s preseason matchup against the Golden State Warriors. “He’s a great player. He can help us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality needs to be next man up.

“We got a group of guys [who] have been practicing, and hopefully,

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