If LeBron James is going to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to an 18th NBA championship, he may be forced to do so while enduring pain along the way.

During an appearance on “Get Up” on Wednesday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski speculated that James' re-aggravated right ankle injury is likely to be an issue throughout the playoffs. Woj said he expects James to gut out a few games down the stretch.

“I think he's going to try to play again in the regular season. It may be later next week. Listen, he's got a tremendous threshold for pain. He's shown that in his career, and certainly a determination to play. But that ankle does need rest right now. He probably can't get it fully healthy until the offseason. He's going to have to play with discomfort in the playoffs,” the veteran reporter said of the Lakers star.

“So, we'll see as we get into next week and get closer to the final games of the regular season whether LeBron wants to push it, or continue to try to give it some time and try to get back as close as he can to 100 percent. I don't think he's going to be able be fully 100 percent for the rest of this season, he's going to probably have to play with discomfort in it.”

The day before, Woj reported that James would miss at least the next two games as he rests his ankle, adding that LeBron “experienced some trouble making hard cuts and exploding.” Later on Tuesday, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times said on NBATV that the Lakers forward could possibly return for the final two or three games of the season.

The Lakers are facing a road back-to-back against the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday and Friday. The team's status report officially ruled out James for Thursday, which head coach Frank Vogel confirmed during his post-practice Zoom session with the media on Wednesday.

Vogel said the team will take it “day-to-day” with their best player over the next few weeks.

The Lakers (37-28) have lost six of eight and currently sit tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the no. 5 see–though the Mavs are ahead due to tie-breaker rules. They are als one game ahead of the Blazers for the play-in tournament, but Friday's contest in Portland will decide who owns the Portland-LA tiebreaker.

To make matters more complicated, point guard Dennis Schroder (health and safety protocols) is expected to be out until the end of the regular season, too.

The Lakers will face the Phoenix Suns (5/9), New York Knicks (5/11), Houston Rockets (5/12), Indiana Pacers (5/15), and New Orleans Pelicans (5/16) to wrap up the season.

James' ankle status is among the many reasons why Frank Vogel described his team's situation as “not ideal.”

“Ideally, it gets 100 percent and he has 10 games to get his rhythm and timing under him,” Vogel said. “We're not gonna have that, so we're going to have to make the best of it. We want him as healthy as possible going into the playoffs.”

The four-time MVP returned after the longest absence of his career (20 games) last Friday against the Sacramento Kings. Following a 16-point outing, he said his ankle felt “a little tight.”

“I haven’t played in a game in six weeks, no contact, no 5-on-5. I’ve been doing a bunch of individual workouts and a lot of running, trying to keep my heart rate going, my conditioning going,” LeBron James said. “My ankle was a little tight at times, obviously just doing different movements, different things that I haven’t done in a game situation in six weeks. So, I think as the games go on that will continue to improve. But I came out unscathed.”

During Sunday's game versus the Toronto Raptors, James experienced a “sharp pain” in his ankle that he hadn't felt in his rehab or warm-ups, which ultimately forced him to exit the cntest with seven minutes to go. Afterward, he said a lack of practice time left him no choice but to use live game action to gauge where his ankle was at.

“There ain’t no damn practice time,” he griped. “It’s not the season for it. … I don’t want to say I came back too early, but I had to test it out and see where I was at.”

Vogel said the Lakers may have an opportunity for one more practice within their two-day break after the Portland game. Regardless, he said the team always looks to squeeze in 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 opportunities. Going forward, they'll manage James' workload depending on how his ankle feels each day.
“I think that was something he felt in-game that obviously you're not gonna feel until you're playing 100 percent intensity,” Vogel said regarding James' self-described pain. “We met and decided to give the ankle a little bit more time.”

Vogel added James did not participate in team activities in practice on Wednesday, though he did do individual work with the training staff.

“Nobody in the NBA has practice time right now,” Vogel furthered. “Nobody's feeling sorry for themselves.”

On Friday, James acknowledged that he may never be back to full strength again in his career.

“You guys could have seen the logging of the minutes and hours per day that I was doing as far as rehab and treatment, it was a lot more than I slept. So over the last six weeks, that’s all I’ve been doing, is having an urgency to get back and play…. I knew I wasn’t going to get back to 100 percent. It’s impossible. I don’t think I will ever get back to 100 percent in my career.”

For this season, at least, that seems to be the case.