LeBron James had everyone in Cyrpto.com Arena hold their breath on Wednesday night. To make matters worse, following a 130-120 loss at home against the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Lakers were left wondering about the status of James as he gingerly walked back to the locker room with 3:55 remaining in the game. It was later revealed that LeBron was bothered by his lingering left ankle injury, an ailment that has plagued him for months now.
Over the course of the last several weeks, the Lakers have listed James as questionable for virtually every game on their injury report due to what they have called “left ankle peroneal tendinopathy. Essentially, this injury is inflammation in the tendons on the outside of the ankle bone and foot. Unfortunately, it is an injury that can persist over time and can only truly get better with rest.
At this point in the season, James can't afford to rest, which is why he has battled through the adversity and pain. However, Wednesday night was yet another example of Father Time catching up with the future Hall of Famer.
The severity of LeBron's injury
For James and the Lakers, the approach to his ankle injury remains the same: monitor his status leading up to the game and make a decision after his warmups.
James has played in 56 of the Lakers' 64 total games this season, recently missing their first game out of the All-Star break against the Golden State Warriors. They ended up losing this game 128-110 in San Francisco. Although he has downplayed this injury, there is reason to worry about James.
While little details have been given since Wednesday night, when James left the court against the Kings, his injury does appear to be a product of time catching up to him. In fact, LeBron's ankle pain is being caused by “wear and tear,” according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
Now in his 21st season and recently turning 39 years old in December, James is certainly nearing the end of the line in what has been one of the greatest careers any American professional athlete has ever had. The sustained success James has had over the course of the last two decades will be hard to replicate by any other player moving forward.
In regards to his ankle injury, this has been an issue for LeBron since the very start of the season. It truly seems like things will be handled based on how his body reacts to treatment leading up to games, as well as his overall pain tolerance. After all, James has played an average of 35 minutes per game this season, so it is possible that the Lakers will look to ease his playing time ahead of the playoffs.
Then again, Los Angeles has very little room for error right now given their 34-30 record, which currently has them in the 10-seed spot in the Western Conference.
Between James' injury flaring up and their continued lack of success on the court, the Lakers are staring down a scenario where they could miss the playoffs for the second time since securing their 17th championship in team history during the 2019-20 season. Whether or not LeBron can play in Friday night's matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks is unknown at this time.
Follow Us
Subscribe