USA TODAY National
With four-time league MVP LeBron James recovering from a nerve injury and yet to make his season debut in 2025-26, there is a possibility he could be sent down to the G League as the final step towards his return, according to Jovan Buha.
James obviously wouldn’t actually see action in G League competition, but rather use his time with the South Bay Lakers to get back into game shape, potentially participating in practices with the G League side before he returns to the NBA hardwood with the Lakers.
Whether or not James and the Lakers choose that route (we don’t think they will), there would be no shame in it, as James wouldn’t be the first NBA superstar to get assigned to the G League.
Below, check out some of the biggest names in NBA history who have spent time in the G League. Spoiler alert: Most of these were injury-related, with the superstar names getting sent down either to rehab or get five-on-five practice work in.
Amare Stoudemire
In 2012-13, the New York Knicks assigned six-time All-Star Amare Stoudemire to what was then known as the NBA D-League, as the big man was revving up for a return near Christmas of that season following offseason knee surgery. Stoudemire didn’t play a game for the Erie Bayhawks, though, instead using his time in the D-League to practice and get ready for a return to action with the Knicks.
By this time in his career, Stoudemire was injury-hampered, a couple of seasons removed from his last Top 10 MVP finish and All-Star season, which came in 2010-11. Stoudemire would play in just 29 games in 2012-13 (none in the D-League), the season he was assigned to the D-League, and then in just three more seasons the rest of his NBA career.
Anthony Davis
Late in 2024-25, Anthony Davis’ first season with the Dallas Mavericks, the five-time All-NBAer was assigned to the NBA G League to join the Texas Legends. Similar to Stoudemire, Davis was sent down in order to get practice time in as he prepared to return from injury, in Davis’ case, a strained adductor muscle.
Davis’ practice time in the G League (he obviously didn’t see a minute of official action for the Legends) helped him return to the Mavericks just a week later, as Davis would average 19.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks on 44.8 percent shooting the rest of the season in Dallas.
Blake Griffin
In 2017-18, star big man Blake Griffin missed a month of action after suffering an MCL sprain late in November of 2017. Prior to his return at the end of the year, Griffin was assigned to the Agua Caliente Clippers to get some practice in before he was able to return to NBA action on Dec. 29, 2017. Griffin would be traded to the Detroit Pistons just over one month later.
Donovan Mitchell
The Cleveland Cavaliers assigned Donovan Mitchell to their G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, on Nov. 22, 2023, to get him some extra practice time as he rehabbed from a hamstring injury. Mitchell obviously didn’t play a minute in the G League, though the extra rehab and practice time allowed him to return to All-Star form upon returning.
Kawhi Leonard
Two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard has had two G League assignments in his career, both injury-related. In December of 2012, the San Antonio Spurs assigned Leonard to the Austin Toros as he rehabbed from a quad injury. Leonard was sent to the G League that time on a medical rehab assignment.
Then, on Dec. 31, 2024, the Clippers assigned Leonard to the G League ahead of his making his season debut months after the 2024-25 campaign had begun. That time, he was nursing a knee injury. Leonard would make his debut just days after his G League assignment, on Jan. 4, 2025. Leonard spent most of the year relatively healthy.
Rudy Gobert
Unlike the other players on this list, Rudy Gobert actually played in the G League early on in his rookie year as he got acclimated to the NBA game. That’s perfectly understandable, of course, as Gobert wasn’t drafted as some can’t-miss prospect, but rather as a late-first-round project. If anything, Gobert deserves a ton of credit for the way he developed from getting G League minutes as a rookie to making four All-NBA teams and winning Defensive Player of the Year four times.
In eight games as a rookie in the G League playing for the Bakersfield Jam in 2013-14, Gobert averaged 13.9 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocks, flashing his future level as an NBA player.
Stephen Curry
Unless James does get sent to the G League as part of his NBA debut for 2025-26, Stephen Curry holds the honor of being the best player to ever get sent down. Curry was assigned in early March of 2020 as part of injury recovery.
Curry played in four games in 2019-20 before breaking his hand. Once he had nearly recovered, the Golden State Warriors sent Curry to the Santa Cruz Warriors as the final step of his recovery, before he returned for one game in early March. Curry was then shut down for Golden State’s last two games of that season.Curry participated in a five-on-five scrimmage with Santa Cruz, even missing a potential scrimmage winner (via ESPN):
But as Curry finishes up the final stretch of a four-month rehab process, he left the group of G League Warriors with a memory that will last a while. As the team's 5-on-5 scrimmage ended, Curry found himself in a familiar position. With his team trailing 49-48, the clock running down and three defenders crowding him, the former two-time NBA MVP rose up, releasing a high-arcing jumper that could have won the game. Everybody inside Kaiser Permanente Arena expected the same result. "You expect him to make it, right," Santa Cruz Warriors forward Roger Moute a Bidias said with a smile after practice. "It was crazy how high he shot it, too. I think [Isaiah] Reese asked him, 'Did you mean to shoot it like that?' And he was like, 'Yeah, I did.' You expect him to make that shot, but it's a scrimmage, so ..." Curry, the man whose career has been defined by making big shots late in games, missed.If James does get sent to the G League as part of his recovery, hopefully we get a memorable story out of his stint just like that one.
If James does get sent to the G League as part of his recovery, hopefully we get a memorable story out of his stint just like that one.
Tony Parker
Although he was a late first-round pick in the 2001 draft, eventual four-time NBA champion Tony Parker didn’t spend time in the D-League early in his career. He was actually the Spurs’ starting point guard by his second campaign in San Antonio.
Parker did get sent down to the G League towards the end of his career, however, in late 2017, as he recovered from a torn quad injury. Parker was in the twilight of his career at that point, and he was unfortunately unable to regain his late-prime form after suffering the injury.
We highly recommend you add HoopsHype as a preferred source on Google. You just have to click here.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: LeBron James to G League? He wouldn't be the first NBA superstar to get sent down
Reporting by Frank Urbina, HoopsHype / Hoops Hype
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
KSL NewsRadio
Lansing State Journal Sports
Deseret News
Charleston Gazette
Orlando Sentinel Sports
Detroit News
Essentiallysports Basketball
WRCB-TV
ESPN
Page Six