LeBron James Could Miss Several Weeks Due to Injury
LeBron James is in danger of missing a good amount of games, which could lead to the Los Angeles Lakers missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, James is feared to be out for several weeks with a right foot injury. The four-time NBA champion is undergoing further testing, and the Lakers will reassess the injury in two weeks.
James suffered the injury in Sunday's win over the Dallas Mavericks when he went for a score against Dwight Powell in the third quarter. The 38-year-old had a limp and told ESPN's Katie George after the game that he stepped on Powell's foot. James finished the game with 26 points, and the Lakers are in the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference, which represents the final play-in spot for the playoffs.
James also missed three consecutive games before the All-Star break with foot and ankle soreness. When James is not in the lineup, the Lakers have a 36-62 record, including a 5-9 record this season. While speaking to reporters during All-Star weekend, James talked about how the next 23 games are important for him and the Lakers.
"It's 23 of the most important games of my career for a regular season," James said. "It's the type of mindset that I have and I hope the guys will have coming back off the break." He also shared his health status for the next 23 games. "This couple of days has helped, not having to stress it being out on the floor. So it's helped," James revealed. "I'm going to try not to go too crazy in the game. I'm going to have some fun, but not go too crazy. The most important thing for me right now is to maintain my health and be available to my teammates after this break because we have to make a strong push if we want to do anything special."
James joined the Lakers in 2018 and led the team to a championship during the 2019-2020 season. However, his time with the Lakers has been up and down as the team has missed the playoffs twice in the last four seasons and lost in the first round of the playoffs during the 2020-2021 season.