LeBron James Receives Final Injury Designation for Lakers vs. Knicks

After long stretches early in the 2025-26 NBA season where the Los Angeles Lakers were dealing with several injuries to key players, the team has been relatively healthy as of late, but now superstar LeBron James is dealing with an elbow issue.

Ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the New York Knicks at Crypto.com Arena, James was listed as questionable, and then in his pregame press conference, head coach JJ Redick said the four-time NBA champion would be a game-time decision.

LeBron James Ruled Out vs. Knicks

Unfortunately for the Lakers, they'll be without James for Sunday's game as he continues to nurse an elbow contusion.

LeBron James (left elbow contusion; left foot arthritis) has been downgraded to OUT for today’s game versus New York.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 8, 2026

The next opportunity for James to return to the floor will be Tuesday when the Lakers host Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, which will be the first of three homes games before the team embarks on a six-game road trip.

The six-game stretch will be the last long road trip of the regular season, with the Lakers only have three games away from Crypto.com Arena in April. They'll face the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder on the road to begin the month followed by a matchup with the Dallas Mavericks and the final road game being in the Bay Area against the Golden State Warriors on April 9.

Maxi Kleber Cleared to Return Sunday

As for veteran forward Maxi Kleber, he has been cleared to play against the Knicks.

Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) has been upgraded to AVAILABLE for today’s game versus New York.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 8, 2026

Kleber hasn’t played since the Lakers blew out the division rival Sacramento Kings on March 1, where he racked up six points, six rebounds and a block in 14 minutes off the bench.

After Sunday's game against the Knicks, the Lakers will have only 18 games left on the regular-season schedule, with the majority of those games being against some of the best teams in the league. They'll face the Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets (twice), Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Thunder (twice) and Phoenix Suns.

It will be a challenging final two of the regular season for the Lakers, with the team needing to fire on all cylinders in hopes of securing a high seed in the Western Conference in order to avoid falling into the Play-In Tournament, which is a realistic possibility at this point, especially with the tough schedule ahead.