After missing 18 consecutive games with a left groin injury, LeBron James will play for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday against the Clippers at Staples Center, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

The Lakers have gone just 6-11 without LeBron James. The team is 26-25 on the season, ninth place in the Western Conference standings. James suffered the injury on Christmas Day against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.

In 34 games this season, LeBron James is averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists per contest for the Purple and Gold. The King is shooting 51.8 percent from the floor, 35.6 percent from beyond the arc and 68.2 percent from the free-throw line.

When James initially got hurt in Golden State, the Lakers said the four-time MVP was going to be day-to-day. That clearly wasn't the case, though, as LeBron James missed nearly five weeks of action. The 18 games LeBron missed is the most games he has missed in a season during his legendary playing career.

This is great news for the Lakers. The team has looked like a lottery team without LeBron James. The Lakers were playing really well before James got hurt, but they have fallen in the standings since he has been out of the lineup. It will be interesting to see how LeBron looks in his first game back.