Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham expressed vague optimism that LeBron James will return from his foot injury before the conclusion of the 2022-23 regular season.
“We anticipate him coming back at some point [this season],” Ham said ahead of the Lakers' matchup with the Orlando Magic at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, when asked if the plan is for LeBron to play before the end of the 82-game slate.
Sunday marked exactly three weeks from the night LeBron exacerbated his right foot soreness after falling awkwardly against the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 26. LeBron has missed the past 10 games, of which the Lakers have won five.
On March 2, the Lakers announced that LeBron had suffered a “right foot tendon injury” and would be “re-evaluated in approximately three weeks,” putting him on track to be assessed next week.
At time of writing, the Lakers (34-37) sit 0.5 games of out the final play-in spot and 2.0 games back of the No. 6 seed with 11 games remaining.
If LeBron were to return a week after his re-evaluation, around April 1, he'd be able to suit up for the final five or so contests. Last week, both ESPN's Brian Windhorst and The Athletic's Shams Charania forecasted that LeBron has a ways to go in his recovery. At shootaround on Friday, Dennis Schroder cryptically hinted that LeBron (who left the team for a few days earlier this month) may have visited a German doctor.
James is averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 47 games this season. He's only played three games with the post-trade-deadline version of the Lakers. The Lakers won all three.
Follow Us
Subscribe