Lakers Unsure How Heavy They Can Lean On LeBron James With His Injury
The Lakers have more problems other than the fact that they can't seem to win games. The injury to LeBron James could end up being more severe than initially thought, and that has resulted in him missing 3 consecutive games, all of which were lost by Los Angeles.
That injury could play a big role in the final months of the season for the Lakers. James is 37 years old, and even though he's not playing like age is catching up to him, they still need to be careful with his health.
Because if the Lakers don't have LeBron in the playoffs, they might as well hang it up for the season. Following the loss to the Hawks, Frank Vogel spoke about how they plan on approaching it and the difficulty of navigating his injury.
“Yeah, I think about it every day. We’re always mindful of the load that he’s carrying, in constant communication with him and the medical team,” Vogel said. “And in terms of what we do going forward with the knee and where he’s at, it’s really a heavy lean on the medical staff and [assistant athletic trainer] Mike Mancias and what they feel is best. It’s really not a head coach thing as much as it is relying on the medical team.”
James is averaging over 30 points per game in the month of January. He's the single reason that the Lakers have been able to stay in the play-in tournament hunt, especially without Anthony Davis over the last month.
But the Lakers are really facing a tough spot with 30 games remaining. They need the extra push to try and get out of the play-in seeding, but they also have to be careful with Bron. The last thing they want to do is push him too hard and lose him for the playoffs.
