The Los Angeles Lakers have missed the services of superstar LeBron James since he suffered a groin injury in the third quarter of the Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors.
According to reports, James will be missing at least two more games. Unfortunately for the Lakers, those games will be against Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, and he might not be ready for a rematch against Golden State.
Without LeBron, the Lakers have struggled mightily, losing seven of the 11 games their star has missed.
The Athletic's Sam Amick had a chance to talk to James' agent, Rich Paul, who admitted that his client badly wants to return to help the Lakers.
“Obviously he cares (about their struggles). The man wants to play. He’s fucking itching to play, but he can’t put himself in that situation. It’s just, you’ve really got to do the right thing and it has zero to do with his age, or the fact that he’s played 16 seasons – nothing to do with that. This is a tendon. It’s not a shoulder, or an ankle, or an elbow. The smart thing to do is to do the smart thing. You can’t allow media, or the fact that the team might be losing, to dictate what’s best for you, and we won’t. He’s progressing. He’s not ready yet.”
The Lakers would improve significantly once James returns to the playing court. However, with 16 seasons under his belt, it is also wise to make sure that LeBron's body is well taken care of.
Until James is 100% healthy, Paul said he will find other ways to help the team.
“When he’s ready to be back, he’ll be back. It’s as simple as that. Until then, he’s going to root his teammates on and try to help them as best he can.
The Lakers will just have to wait and remain competitive without him. It is better to have him ready for the postseason rather than risk re-aggravating any nagging injury just to rush him back.
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