Although Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is expected to be out for multiple weeks following a foot injury, the 38-year-old is reportedly “turning over every stone he possibly can from a treatment perspective to get that foot in position to return at some point this season,” according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
Windhorst appeared on “Get Up” to affirm that James is doing everything he can to get back on the court this season as he continues to recover from the ailment.
LeBron has been in and out of the lineup due to various injuries this season, but his most recent right foot tendon injury has already caused him to miss the last five Lakers games and counting.
The Lakers announced on Mar. 2 that James would be reevaluated in three weeks following the tendon issue, which was suffered in a game against the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 26.
If James does miss another nearly two weeks at minimum, that would keep him out of approximately eight of Los Angeles' final 16 games.
“In the short term, we’ll all have to pull in the same direction,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said last week.
It's been a struggle to keep LeBron James on the court for extended periods; the most games he has played in a season with the Lakers is 67, which came during 2019-20. He played in just 45 games the season after, and 56 in 2021-22.
Through 47 games this season, he's averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists while shooting 50.1 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from deep.
At 32-34, the Lakers are ninth in the NBA's competitive Western Conference, and just 1.5 games back of sixth place and the guaranteed final playoff spot.
On the flip side, they're just a half game back of the 11th seed and the risk of missing the play-in tournament altogether.
With just 16 games left on the schedule and James almost certain to miss more than half of them, they'll need their superstar back if they hope to make a deep run in the postseason.
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