LeBron James says he's 'got to be cautious' with preseason minutes

LeBron James has had a busy year. Between last season, the long playoff run, and the Olympics, James has been playing basketball pretty much continuously for the better part of a year. That's why the Miami Heat staff are trying to give him as much rest as they can during training camp and the preseason, according to ESPN's Michael Wallace.

The Heat's preseason slate starts on Oct. 7 against the Atlanta Hawks, and James won't play very much in that game, if at all. The team is also closely monitoring how much time he spends on the court doing drills, in order to avoid over-training and burnout. Some of James' teammates will need camp to get back into basketball shape, but he says he's been in playing shape for months:

"It does feel different," James said. "I'm in better shape right now than I've been, because I've played so much basketball. Usually, it takes me a week, a week-and-a-half of camp to kind of get back into it. But at the same time, I've still got to be cautious. I've played a lot of basketball and I've got to be cautious and not allow myself to be out there too much. We'll monitor that."

This story originally appeared at SB Nation.