LeBron’s status still unknown for season opener

Will he or won’t he? That was the compelling question after the Cavaliers finished their final practice before playing the Boston Celtics on Oct. 17 at Quicken Loans Arena in the highly anticipated opener of the NBA’s 2017-18 regular-season.

He is Cavs superstar LeBron James, who begins his 15th season on the mend from the sprained left ankle he suffered in the first fullfledged practice on Sept. 27.

The Celtics will come to town led by Kyrie Irving, the high-scoring point guard who asked to be traded in July so he could escape James’ shadow and become the main man on another team.

After the Cavs went through a light practice on Oct. 16 in which James participated, coach Tyronn Lue was twice asked about James’ status for an opener that will be an early test for the revamped Cavs.

“I really don’t know. It depends on how he feels after (the Oct. 16 practice),” Lue said at the front end of his meeting with reporters.

The question was posed again at the back end of the session.

“I hope he plays. I want him to play. I’m preparing that he is (playing),” Lue said while smiling.

James did not speak to reporters.

Earlier, Lue had said if the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player elects not to play in or is held out of a regular-season opener for the first time in his career, his place in the starting lineup would be taken by J.R. Smith. He’s the veteran shooting forward who was moved to the second unit after Lue elected to replace him in the starting line-up with Dwyane Wade, the 12-time All-Star who signed with the Cavs as a free agent in September after getting a contract buyout from the Chicago Bulls.

Smith would like nothing better than to star against the Celtics. But he doesn’t think James can be stopped from answering the call against the Celtics and Irving, who won’t be warmly greeted by the capacity crowd at The Q.

“He’s going to go. Trust me on that,” Smith said, referring to James.

Smith said James will play through whatever pain he still feels in the ankle because of his love for the game, competitive drive and pride in in never having missed a season opener “since he was 8,” Smith added.

James tested the ankle in the preseason home game against Chicago on Oct. 10 to mixed results. He played 30 minutes and scored 18 points, but clearly was favoring the injured ankle. He was shut down in preseason practices after that.

After practice on Oct. 16, with reporters watching his every move, James engaged in a spirited jump-shot contest with Smith, back-up guard Iman Shumpert and new teammates Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas. The latter two came to the Cavs in the trade that sent Irving to Boston.

James appeared to be moving better than in the preseason game.

The real eye-opener in the contest was some sharpshooting by Thomas. The two-time All-Star point guard will be sidelined at least until December as he recovers from hip surgery.