LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have had somewhat of an inconsistent start to the 2023-24 season. James recently led the team to a thrilling overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers, which was their first win over their Crypto.com Arena neighbors in eleven tries, but the Lakers are currently dealing with a slew of injuries, a problem that doesn't seem to be diminishing ahead of the team's upcoming matchup against the Orlando Magic.

On Friday, the team released its injury report leading up to the Magic game, and several players were already ruled out for the contest, including Rui Hachimura (concussion protocol), Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel bursitis), Jalen Hood-Schifino (right patella contusion) and Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion), per Jesse Cinquini of Lakers Daily. In addition to the outright absences, small forward Taurean Prince is listed as questionable with left patellar tendonitis.

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The Lakers currently sit at 3-2 on the season, but none of the three wins have come in particularly easy fashion. In a bit of a schedule quirk, this will already be the second and final matchup between the Lakers and Magic in the 2023-24 season. LeBron James and the Lakers held on for dear life in a narrow home win over Orlando earlier this week.

Although the team is compiling wins, it's safe to say that James is playing a few more minutes a night than Lakers fans would want to see at this point in the season, but it's understandable considering the volume of injuries that the team is currently encountering.