James to miss at least three weeks
After days of medical evaluation and nail-biting anticipation, the Lakers have learned they'll likely spend the next three weeks scrapping to survive a crowded Western Conference playoff race without LeBron James.
When James returns — and if he returns — might hinge on how well the Lakers (30-33) can play without him during a defining stretch of the regular season.
On Thursday morning, the team officially acknowledged that James has a tendon injury in his right foot, which was exacerbated when he landed awkwardly in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. James watched the Lakers' next game from the sideline in Memphis while wearing a walking boot up to his knee, then flew back to L.A. early for further evaluation.
The meager success the Lakers have carved out this year can be attributed, in large part, to James, who has led the Lakers in scoring (29.5 ppg) and play-making (6.9 apg) at 38 years old. But the excitement of surrounding James and fellow superstar Anthony Davis with younger, more well-fitting role players at the trade deadline has quickly diminished to grim determination to keep the team competitive enough for James to come back in time for a potential
Today: Timberwolves at Lakers, 7:30 p.m., SpecSN
playoff run.
The team is 5-2 since changing over five players at the deadline, but with 10 games scheduled before James' next reevaluation, the road figures to be as difficult as ever without the Lakers' franchise leader. Davis, who missed 20 consecutive games earlier this season with a right foot stress reaction, said he wants James to be “completely right and healthy” before getting back on the court — but acknowledged the Lakers will have to be competitive enough to give him a situation worth returning for.
“It's on us, other guys in the locker room to step up and continue to win basketball games,” Davis said, “and let him take care of what he needs to take care of until he's back and able to start rolling again.”
James posted a video of himself standing in a pool with trainer Mike Mancias overseeing with the caption: “Day 1. Let's get it!!” Pool training (to reduce weight) is common for players recovering from lower leg and foot injuries.
The Lakers have just 19 games left in the regular season, positioned in 11th in the Western Confernence as of Thursday morning, one game behind the final play-in spot and 2 1/2 games out of the sixth seed for a guaranteed playoff position. The Lakers are 6-10 without James this season.
The schedule that James is now forecasted to miss includes games against Western powers like Memphis and Phoenix, as well as a number of teams the Lakers hope to eclipse in the standings: Minnesota, Golden State, New Orleans and Dallas. One of the few saving graces is that 10 of the Lakers' next 12 games will be played at home.
But the roster is not otherwise healthy: Point guard D'Angelo Russell has missed the past three games with a sprained right ankle and told ESPN he expected to miss tonight's game against the Timberwolves. Davis sat out Wednesday night as a precaution and the Lakers eked out a win over the Thunder — it's unclear if the Lakers plan to play him in two remaining back-to-backs before the end of the regular season (at New Orleans and Houston on March 14 and 15; at Utah and the Clippers on April 4 and 5). Dennis Schröder twisted his left ankle Wednesday in Oklahoma City, though he told reporters he expected to heal quickly.
Coach Darvin Ham has been one of the most consistently optimistic voices for the Lakers this season, and characteristically, he thought the momentum the team has been building recently would continue even without James.
“I just see us just carrying on, man,” he said. “Like I said, it's a huge blow to have Bron injured, but we're going to keep going full steam ahead with the goals that we set for ourselves.”
Internally, the locker room has been similarly confident since the trade deadline. Players including Schröder and Troy Brown Jr. preached after the win over the Thunder that the team's overall accountability has risen in that stretch as they try to build team chemistry on the fly — a task James undoubtedly was helping speed along before getting hurt.
“I mean, we just want to keep it going,” Schröder said. “Our goal was, beginning of the season, to make the playoffs. And it is still now. And I think with the trades we made, the people who came in, they got the same mindset, Coach got a clear message, and I think everybody's on the same page.”
The latest injury timeline all but guarantees a sobering streak continues for James: It will likely be the fifth consecutive season in which he's failed to play at least 70 games (though two seasons were shortened due to the pandemic). James had missed the 70-game threshold only twice (including a lockout season) in his first 15 seasons before joining the Lakers. He's missed 100 of 217 possible games in his last three seasons alone, largely due to injuries.