Lakers-Bulls Injury Report: LeBron James, Marcus Smart Update

Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James has missed the last three games due to a hip contusion and left foot arthritis. Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) and Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) were late scratches for Tuesday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Although James’ injuries aren’t considered to be serious or ailments that will keep him off the floor for very long, he’s already missed more time than expected. However, the Lakers haven’t missed a beat, winning all three games that the four-time NBA champion has been sidelined.

LeBron James is Questionable, Marcus Smart is Doubtful to Face Bulls

Injury report for tomorrow's game against the Bulls: Hayes is PROBABLE, LeBron & Kleber QUESTIONABLE and Smart is DOUBTFUL pic.twitter.com/Tv4J49xa20
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 12, 2026

In the final stretch of the 2025-26 NBA regular season, the Lakers will face only a handful of teams below .500, with the Bulls among them. The other teams in that category left on the schedule include the Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks (twice), Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz (regular-season finale).

Every other team the Lakers are set to face are teams in playoff contention or are legitimate title contenders, starting the Denver Nuggets on March 14 followed by the Houston Rockets (twice), Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder (twice) and Phoenix Suns.

The Lakers will have a small margin of error moving forward, as the health of their players will be paramount to their success throughout the final 17 regular-season games. Marcus Smart popping up on the report ahead of Thursday's game is obviously concerning, but it is a positive that Hayes will likely play against Chicago.

Fortunately for Los Angeles, the team has gotten into a bit of a groove lately, with three straight wins, two of which against elite squads in Minnesota and New York. Luka Doncic and company will hope to keep this much-needed momentum going, as this team will need to be playing high-level basketball when facing these tough matchups with playoff positioning in the Western Conference on the line.

Ahead of Thursday's game against the visiting Bulls, the Lakers are sitting in fourth place in the West, with only the Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Thunder ahead of them. However, it's a tight race in the conference, as each day there will be drastic changes from the third spot to as low as seventh place, with none these playoff-caliber teams wanting to fall into the Play-In Tournament, which is a realistic possibility for the Lakers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Suns.

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