Lakers Injury Report: LeBron James Explains How LA Has Handled Lingering Ankle Issue
An otherwise relatively healthy season for your Los Angeles Lakers' All-Star frontcourt of LeBron James and Anthony Davis has been clouded by The King's recent ankle injury, as it caused him to miss the team's loss against the Warriors on Thursday, and he's continued to receive treatment since.
The severity of the ailment is unknown, but it's definitely lingering and nagging, as James has repeatedly popped up on the injury report for the better part of the entire regular season, and there's limited clarity on how much the injury is affecting him.
Here's what James had to say on the matter, per Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times:
“It wasn’t something that we just came up with out of the blue,” James said. “We had already clocked this months ago, knowing the schedule. So just seeing ways that we can maximize days when we had the opportunity in that stretch right there between last Tuesday [and] when we played here today. It was a beneficial one."
James implies that LA has found a way to plan his rehab out in accordance with their schedule, as he missed the minimum amount of time to get the treatment necessary and return to the court in time for their pivotal home stretch of the season.
Again, as the injury itself (and its severity) remain unclear, expect James to possibly sit out a few more games against low-level teams to fuel up for the playoffs. For example, keep an eye out on February 29th (vs. Washington), March 27th (vs. Memphis), and April 3 (vs. Washington). Everyone else on the calendar is a quality opponent, which reflects the challenges lying ahead for LA more than anything else.
