For the second game in a row, the Lakers were without LeBron James on Friday, which isn’t surprising since he’s certainly taken a break and missed time due to injury in recent seasons.

However, during these moments, LeBron was still sitting on the sidelines cheering on his team. However, Friday was an exception. After missing practice on Wednesday for “personal reasons,” LeBron was not with the team on Friday.

Before the game, head coach JJ Redick was asked if he knew when LeBron would return to the team, to which he replied that he did not.

This all feels strange.

The most likely and obvious reason for this is that due to a strange break in the schedule, the Lakers decided to give LeBron an extended break that he otherwise would not have been granted. Whether that means returning for Sunday’s home game against the Grizzlies or giving him nearly two full weeks off before playing at the Kings next Thursday, it would be a long period of time to rest and recover that isn’t normally available .

However, this also comes at a time when trading speculation is surging. Even though it was essentially created entirely by ESPN with no real coverage, the fact that LeBron isn’t there only adds fuel to the fire.

It also comes shortly after LeBron looked completely wrecked on the Lakers’ road trip, made some mental mistakes in the loss in Atlanta and recently spoke about his retirement in a postgame press conference. Again, this could all be a coincidence with no truth to it, but without LeBron it leads to baseless speculation.

And if there was a simple answer to that, why wouldn’t the Lakers communicate it? Maybe they’ll get around the NBA’s new rules on load management and rest. The league has not shied away from imposing hefty fines. If the Lakers want to avoid a fine for resting LeBron for a week or more, citing “personal reasons” while maintaining silence would be the way to do it.

At the moment it’s a strange situation that probably has a logical answer. But the further it drags on, the stranger it gets.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.