Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was not fully healthy during the final stretch of the 2020-21 season, and when he suit up in the playoffs, it was clear his ankle injury was bothering him.
Now, in the Lakers' final preseason practice before the 2021-22 campaign opens, LeBron addressed his ankle injury and shared the extent of the issue that extended into the offseason. According to James, he was unable to work on his basketball training during the first two months of summer because of it.
“It took a while,” James said of his ankle injury, per SB Nation. “It took a while. I didn’t do much basketball stuff for probably like the first two months of the summer — which is very rare for me — because my ankle wasn’t responding how we would like for it to respond.”
To recall, LeBron James missed 20 straight outings due to the ankle issue. When he returned, he played in a couple of games before having to sit out the next six contests due to the same issue. The Lakers forward returned in the final two games of 2020-21, but that also meant he made just four appearances out of a possible 30 to end the campaign.
With that said, it's not surprising to see why he struggled in the postseason. The Lakers eventually lost to the Phoenix Suns in the opening series, giving James his first career playoffs exit in the first round of the playoffs.
For what it's worth, though, James admitted that the long rest and summer have helped him recover from his ailment. Now, it looks like he's fully ready to get the Lakers back on top.
“The best thing about the summertime is that I had time. I had time to really just give it an opportunity to get ready to where my ankle was ready to go,” James added. “I was always training. I wasn’t on the basketball court, but I was always doing other stuff, training, pushing and seeing things I could do with my ankle until I got to a point where I didn’t feel any sharp pains anymore, and my flexibility was back to where it was before.”
Follow Us
Subscribe