LeBron James opens up about why NBA 'bubble' is a 'huge challenge'

LeBron James has opened up about the difficulties of returning to work, explaining that being away from his family is a “huge challenge”.

The Los Angeles Lakers star, who is currently quarantined together with the rest of his teammates and other NBA players at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida, discussed the downsides of the NBA "bubble" on Monday with USAToday.

“I miss the hell out of my family," he said after winning a game against Utah Jazz. “My wife, my kids, my mother. And so on and so on. So, it’s a huge challenge.”

The professional athlete, who shares sons LeBron Jr, 15, and Bryce, 13, and daughter Zhuri, five, with wife Savannah will not be able to reunite with his family until after the first round of the playoffs, according to the New York Post, with the playoffs set to begin on 18 August.

This is not the first time James has spoken about missing his family as a result of the coronavirus precautions the NBA has put in place.

Last week, the 35-year-old told reporters during a video conference that he has been relying on the phone and social media to be present with his family but that “there's nothing that you can do to replicate time, presence”.

“You can't replicate actual presence when you're waking up and you're in the living room or you're in the kitchen, or you're outside playing with your kids or playing with your daughter, playing video games with your boys or working out with your boys,” James said. “You can't replicate that. I'm not there.”

And while he acknowledged his wife is a “rock" at controlling and being there for the family, he said he misses her and his children.

“You definitely, you have that miss factor when you miss your family, you miss your kids and things of that nature,” he said. “But I thank Steve Jobs a lot and the team at Apple for having FaceTime, because that is a beautiful thing to have, especially during a time like this."