EL SEGUNDO — Although he won’t play in Saturday’s preseason opener, Lakers star LeBron James seemingly looks like his pre-injury self during training camp.

James told reporters after Thursday’s practice that he won’t suit up against the Golden State Warriors but hopes to play in about half of the Lakers’ six preseason games.

“Hopefully I can get to at least half of them,” James said. “But we’ll see. Every game will dictate it. I will not be playing in Saturday’s game, that’s for sure, in the Bay. But we’ll see after that.”

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After playing the Warriors, the Lakers will play the Brooklyn Nets (Monday night in Las Vegas), Sacramento Kings (Wednesday night in Anaheim), the Warriors again on Oct. 13 at Crypto.com Arena and the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles before closing out their exhibitions against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 19 in Palm Springs.

At 38 years old and entering his 21st NBA season, James wasn’t expected to suit up for every preseason game.

The Lakers are being mindful of the preseason workload for James, whose 65,747 combined NBA minutes in the regular season and playoffs are the second most in league history behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (66,297).

“We collaborate and communicate on what those steps will be,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “Obviously, we put our heads together with the medical staff, [James’ long-time athletic trainer] Mike Mancias, in particular. We make sure we come up with an effective plan. The beautiful thing about the way we move forward is one, he’s in phenomenal shape.

“Two, he’s probably got more years in experience outside of [Anthony Davis] than the entire team combined in terms of games played and minutes played. And he takes phenomenal care of himself. The fact that our roster is what it is, he doesn’t have to come start the season with his cape on, so to speak. The help that he has around him will allow him to not have to be full throttle in every practice and every preseason game.”

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It was clear that James was physically limited toward the end of last season after a 13-game absence because of a torn tendon in his right foot he suffered during the Feb. 26 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

The four-time league MVP lacked burst when trying to get by defenders and it was evident his athleticism took a hit because of the injury. James said earlier in the week that he “pretty much tore the whole tendon on my right foot” against the Mavericks.

Ham reaffirmed that James is not only fully healthy after rehabbing during the offseason, but he’s got his burst back.

“Without question,” Ham responded. “He’s 100% healthy. He looks fine. He looks like third- or fourth-year LeBron.”

James averaged 29.5 points on 50.1% shooting to go with 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 47 regular-season games (36.1 minutes) before the injury.

He averaged 25.3 points on 48.7% shooting along with 7.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists in eight regular-season games (32.3 minutes) after the injury. His efficiency in the playoffs resembled his post-injury regular-season numbers.

While it might be too much to expect even James to look how he did at 21 or 22 years old, it seems like he’s closer to the version he was at the beginning of the 2022-23 season than how he ended it.

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“He’s been looking good,” Jarred Vanderbilt said. “Just energy level, his activity. Him changing ends of the floor, he definitely looks like he has a little bit more bounce and pep to his step. We’re glad to have him back at 100%. He’s still moving like a freight train.”

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The Lakers are also better equipped to not have to lean on James compared to previous seasons.

The starting backcourt of D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves can handle greater ball-handling roles. Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood are capable of putting up big scoring numbers on a given night.

“He’s able to pick his spots now,” Ham said. “He’s an elder, wise man on the court, as well as off the court. He’s very calculated in the way he chooses his spots to do that and to show that.

“And now he has a ton of help. It’s only gonna make him and allow him to play and have that burst for longer stretches during games, during the season. So now when we get to our destination, he’ll be clicking on all cylinders.”