LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James is sitting out the Los Angeles Lakers ' game against Oklahoma City on Tuesday night to rest his injured left foot.
The Pacific Division champion Lakers are already without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who are both sidelined for at least the rest of the regular season with significant injuries. Doncic, Reaves and James are averaging a combined 77.6 points per game this season, or 66.5% of the Lakers' typical nightly scoring output.
The Lakers also are without starting guard Marcus Smart (bruised right ankle) and backup center Jaxson Hayes (bruised left foot) against the NBA-leading Thunder.
The 41-year-old James has been dealing with left foot arthritis and discomfort for much of the regular season, and he has occasionally sat out games to rest. The visit from the Thunder will be the 22nd game he has missed in his unprecedented 23rd NBA season.
Although James' absence is only a short-term decision to rest a veteran in a game that would be difficult to win with a full roster, the Lakers’ injury woes in the past week have badly damaged their hopes of being a championship contender in Doncic’s first full season with the club.
Both Doncic — the NBA’s scoring leader — and Reaves were injured during the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Thunder last week. Doncic incurred a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, and Reaves injured his oblique muscles.
The Lakers have indicated only that both Doncic and Reaves will miss the rest of this week, but their injuries typically take longer than that to heal in most athletes. Coach JJ Redick seemed to acknowledge Tuesday they'll be significantly short-handed when the playoffs begin.
"Our playoff rotation is not set in the first round with AR and Luka being out, so we've got to evaluate everybody and we've got to find who those guys are that we can trust and put in the playoffs," Redick said.
Doncic has left the Lakers to travel to Europe for treatment in an attempt to shorten his recovery time. Redick wouldn't say how long Doncic is likely to be away from the team.
“I think he's in good spirits,” Redick said. “In my conversations with him, he's motivated to do everything possible. I know for him, it's hard not for him to be on a basketball court. That's his happy place, and he's one of the handful of guys that really played year-round. ... He wants to get back on the court.”
In the Lakers' first game after losing Doncic and Reaves last Sunday, James had 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds, but the Lakers lost 134-128 to the struggling Dallas Mavericks.
James is averaging 20.8 points, 7.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game this season. He has knocked over another set of NBA records this season, most recently surpassing Robert Parish's record for career games played.
Smart has been out since March 21, depriving the Lakers of a key defensive player and a veteran leader. Redick said the Lakers had thought Smart would be back by now.
“He was doing on-court work, and he wanted to dial it back (last week),” Redick said. “He had a great day today on the court, trending towards playing at some point this week.”
The Lakers' visit from the defending champion Thunder is the first of three games in four days. Los Angeles plays at Golden State on Thursday and hosts Phoenix on Friday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James walks the court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James grimaces as he grabs the ball after a whistle during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday that Iran's "negotiating on fumes" and insisted November's midterm elections won't factor in shaping his approach to the nearly three-month-old conflict that's spurred unease across the global economy.
Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting at a precarious moment for talks aimed at ending the war, Trump expressed confidence that a deal is near. Over the weekend, he even declared that his administration and Tehran had “largely negotiated” a settlement, but the negotiations were still in flux.
The president is looking for a settlement that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him a credible argument that Iran’s nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that's been politically unpopular for Republicans.
But as things stand, Trump also risks finding that closure to his war of choice comes with an unsatisfactory ending.
The emerging deal puts off many critical issues to be resolved later and has already exposed the Republican president to fierce criticism — even from some of his own supporters — that Iran's hard-line leaders will emerge from the conflict battered but emboldened. It all comes to a head just as the midterm elections to determine control of Congress come into focus and as Republicans worry that rising costs and fuel prices are darkening the American electorate's mood.
But Trump on Wednesday dismissed the idea that the upcoming elections would carry any weight in shaping his Iran strategy.
“They thought they were gonna out-wait me. You know, 'We’ll out-wait him. He’s got the midterms,'” Trump said. “I don’t care about the midterms.”
Trump acknowledged there's still work to do, but he spoke with a measure of certainty that the two sides would get there.
“They want very much to make a deal," Trump said. “So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”
Talks were further complicated after U.S. forces carried out what the Pentagon called “defensive” strikes on missile launch sites and mine-laying boats in southern Iran on Monday. The U.S. said it acted with “restraint” in light of the weekslong ceasefire, while Iran decried the action as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability.”
While Trump insists a deal is within reach, there appears to be daylight between the U.S. and Iran on several key issues. The president is also facing scrutiny from Republican allies, including Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ted Cruz of Texas, who have said the terms seem too favorable to Tehran.
They're balking at aspects of the deal that have emerged publicly that they say too closely resemble the nuclear agreement reached with Iran by Democratic President Barack Obama, which Trump scrapped during his first term.
Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium — a key Trump demand — in return for sanctions relief. That's according to two regional officials and one senior Trump administration official, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.
One regional official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up the uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period. Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, the official said.
Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium.
Trump on Monday said in a Truth Social post that the uranium, which is believed to be buried under nuclear sites battered by U.S. airstrikes last year, would either be turned over to the U.S. or “destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event.” The comment signals a softening of Trump's previous insistence that the U.S. take control of Iran's uranium stockpile.
Another key issue unresolved is whether the ceasefire will also cover Israel’s operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon. Iran has insisted that Lebanon must be covered by any ceasefire agreement negotiated with the United States.
The administration appears to leave some wiggle room on the Lebanon question. The emerging memorandum of understanding calls for a ceasefire between the U.S. and its allies against Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah, but also underscores Israel's right to act against imminent threats and in self-defense.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday announced that the Israeli military is “deepening its operation” in Lebanon. Overnight, Israel's military clashed with the Iran-backed militant Hezbollah group along a strategic river in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops pushed farther north.
Jonathan Conricus, a former spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said Israel expects that Iran would quickly move to direct any sanctions relief to restore its military capability and boost proxy groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.
“We’re not done fighting, because the Iranian regime isn’t done,” said Conricus, who is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.
Trump on Monday said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing diplomatic and economic relations with Israel.
Trump’s optimism that the other Middle Eastern and majority Muslim countries could soon sign on to the accords might be overly ambitious.
For example, Saudi Arabia, the most significant power in the Arab world and long seen as the biggest prize for the normalization effort, has insisted that establishing a guaranteed path to a Palestinian state remains a precondition. It's something that Israel vehemently opposes.
Trump made the Abraham Accords push during a call with leaders of Mideast allies over the weekend.
Barbara Leaf, a retired U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and senior State Department official during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, said officials from Gulf countries who were on the call told her that Trump's pitch was greeted by “stunned silence." A person familiar with the call disputed that characterization and said that some regional allies responded positively to the president’s call to join the accords. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity about the private conversation.
Leaf, a distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that Middle Eastern allies of the United States recognize that Iran will likely use any money from sanctions relief to bolster its military capabilities. Still, they have been supportive of Trump pursuing an end to the conflict.
“They see no other way out,” Leaf said of American allies in the region. “And they see no other way out because of many of these early mistakes that the president and the administration made in conducting the war.”
AP writers Matthew Lee, Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump, center right, attends a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room, at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump, next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, right, speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington, as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, front left, and Vice President JD Vance, front right, look on. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump, next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump departs Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Bethesda, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
