Lakers News: LeBron James Expected To Miss Multiple Weeks With Injury
Perhaps Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James shouldn't have played through that right foot injury yesterday against the Dallas Mavericks, after all.
Sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic that the team anticipates the 38-year-old vet will miss several weeks with what is still being cagily defined as a "right foot injury." He is officially out indefinitely. Charania adds that James will be seeking "multiple opinions" for further information on the ailment, which is never what you want to hear.
Given that there are just six weeks left in the NBA regular season, and that the Lakers are currently out of the play-in picture (albeit just barely), this is terrible timing for the league's all-time leading scorer to get banged up.
Los Angeles had just been hitting its stride, having won three straight and four of its last five, thanks to team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka having surrounded injury-prone stars James and Anthony Davis with players who provide the kind of skills the team had previously lacked -- namely, three-point shooting and defense.
The whole house of cards will collapse, of course, if either James or Davis misses major time, as is their custom. At 29-32, the Lakers are currently on the outside of the Western Conference's play-in picture looking in. The team is the 12th seed in the West, but conversely is also just 3.5 games behind the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns in an incredibly cramped conference. This parity makes the season's home stretch something of a sprint.
James, the Lakers' best player (with apologies to the even more injury-prone Davis), is an irreplaceable piece of the greater machine. Starting point guard D'Angelo Russell is also listed as doubtful to play tomorrow with a right ankle sprain, though it seems his status is more day-to-day. Whenever he does return, D-Lo will soon be leaned upon to help LA with its passing and scoring more than normal.
Davis of course will also be looked at more to score for Los Angeles in the meantime.
Whom will head coach Darvin Ham elevate to starting small forward in LBJ's absence, for however long it lasts? Troy Brown Jr. and Rui Hachimura are the obvious candidates, though there is a chance that Ham promotes Austin Reaves or even Lonnie Walker IV to starting shooting guard and shifts Malik Beasley over to small forward.
At the end of the day, if LeBron James misses more than a couple weeks, this could very well sink LA's season. The team will need to do its darnedest to stay within striking distance of the West's play-in bracket without him. Should Los Angeles go into a bit of a spiral now, which is quite possible without James's All-NBA offensive skillset, that could kill their 2022-23 run for good.
Long one of the most durable players in the game, it seems James's luck has run out in that department. The future first ballot Hall of Famer has already missed 14 games with various other maladies this year. This foot ailment will now yield his fourth consecutive season missing at least 20 contests for LA. When he has played, he's been his typically excellent self on offense. He's averaging 29.5 points on .501/.308/.759 shooting splits, 8.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 0.9 steals a night.
Remember how James pledged on All-Star Sunday that he would play every one of the Lakers' final 23 games of the regular season? That promise lasted two games.
Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!
