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The story of the Lakers season has been written in the ink of injuries. Superstar LeBron James has missed the last four games with swelling in his knee. LeBron flew back to LA on Saturday to get treatment, despite the fact that the Lakers had the final game of their road trip in Atlanta on Sunday.

Lakers reporter Mike Trudell had the scoop on the latest with LeBron’s injury stats.

Trudell added that the Lakers and LeBron are playing it safe with his latest injury. and that he will not return until the swelling dissipates. Lebron did not attend the Lakers home win on Wednesday night over the Blazers so he could stay off his aching knee.

Losing a superstar is never good, but the fact that the Lakers just got Anthony Davis back from a knee injury of his own is the salt in the wound. LA’s collective inability to develop on-court chemistry has clearly hampered their ability to succeed.

Every team deals with injuries, but such a top heavy team like the Lakers can ill-afford to have their two biggest stars in and out of the lineup. LeBron, Davis, and Westbrook have played just 16 games together.

Without LeBron, the Lakers are 6-10 this season. It’s up to Davis, Westbrook, and the supporting cast to keep the boat afloat until their captain returns.

At this point, every game for the 25-27 Lakers is important, but they have two important measuring-stick games in the next week and a half. They’ll host the Milwaukee Bucks (32-21) on Tuesday and also have a Sunday night prime-time headliner against Golden State (39-13) at Chase Arena.

If the Lakers are finally going to realize their potential, they’ll need LeBron at 100%. Whenever that will be, is anyone’s guess right now.