The return of the King is imminent. On Monday night, ESPN's Dave McMenamin included this notable update on the status of LeBron James in his recap following the Los Angeles Lakers' 114-103 victory over the Orlando Magic.
“James could return as soon as this week, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. James has looked ‘strong' in his ramp-up workouts on the Lakers’ current road trip.”
The buzz has been getting louder for James' return over the past 48 hours.
After leading L.A. to a win in Orlando, Lakers point guard Dennis Schröder claimed to know James' target date, though he wouldn't say any more.
“I know. It’s probably the Lakers organization who is going to tell you guys,” Schröder said. “He’s close. I can tell you that much.”
Vogel has stayed on message and declined to offer specifics on James' recovery. The Lakers have said updates will be provided when “appropriate.” On April 19, Vogel revealed that James had started doing “light work on the court,” which counted as a relatively substantial update.
On Monday morning, James fed the hype by posting a black-and-white video showing him jogging back and forth and making a layup, with the caption: “Coming soon to a city near you.”
I guess he looks, “strong?”
“Coming soon to a city near you”
LeBron coming back REAL SOON 🤫
(via @KingJames) pic.twitter.com/BZPtPNSUdv— Overtime (@overtime) April 26, 2021
In light of James' post, Vogel was asked about his status before the Magic matchup.
“Timeline is out indefinitely,” he re-iterated. “I get detailed updates on everything he’s doing on the court on a daily basis so we can measure and be in the loop on how close he’s getting.”
The Lakers (36-25) have won eight of the 19 games James has missed since he suffered a high right ankle sprain on March 20.
The Lakers will finish up their road trip on Wednesday vs. the Washington Wizards, then return to Staples Center for three straight. It's possible that James could play Friday vs. the Sacramento Kings, but the safer bet is Sunday against the Toronto Raptors. (That counts as “this week,” right?)
Ideally, the Lakers would want a few days to ramp up James once he's fully cleared — as they typically do with returning players — but they don't have it. Vogel said James could return before he gets a full practice in, which was not the case with Anthony Davis.
“I think that looks different for each player,” Vogel said. “It looks different based on what the schedule looks like, when we have practice time, and all those sorts of things.”
“Certainly, we’ll make sure he’s safe to return to play before he returns.”
If James does play Sunday, L.A. will be looking at a nine-game window to re-acclimate James (and Davis) and find a rhythm with Andre Drummond before the playoffs. As a mid-level seed, the first-round won't offer a cakewalk in which to flip a switch.
“I think when Bron comes back we’re going to have a conversation as a team,” Schröder said on Saturday. “Because our chemistry, like AD said, off the court is great, but on the court we’ve just got to turn it up some more.”
Sunday (and Monday vs. the Denver Nuggets) will mark the first of four May back-to-backs for the Lakers. Fresh off weeks of rest and with few reps to spare, Vogel expects Davis and possibly James to part-take in each game.
“If Bron is back and ready to play, his history suggests he would play in both of those; he would want to play in both,” Vogel said. “But, obviously we’ll make game-time reads the day of the game as to where he’s at with his ankle, and whether he should play in both of those games. But that’s not been decided yet.”
Clock's ticking.
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