Over the last two years, it has seemed that every time the Los Angeles Lakers seem to be turning a corner, one of their key players gets hurt or injured. Even worse, it has seemed like every time an injured player has gotten healthy and returned to game action, another key player would go down.
Although this season hasn’t been quite as bad as the previous two in the injury department, it has still had its share of bad fortune when it comes to health.
There was Anthony Davis’ right foot stress injury that he sustained in mid-December. Although he has been back for several days, some observers believe he still isn’t 100% and the ailment is affecting his game.
Guards Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker were out for most of January, while Dennis Schroder and outgoing center Thomas Bryant missed the first few weeks of the schedule with thumb injuries.
LeBron James missed six games earlier in the season with a strained adductor, and lately, he has been dealing with a left foot ailment that has sidelined him for L.A.’s last two games. He will reportedly miss another contest on Monday when the team visits the Portland Trail Blazers.
Although head coach Darvin Ham has said imaging on James’ left foot has revealed nothing clinically significant, another report says that the ailment may be somewhat severe (h/t Silver Screen and Roll).
"I was told LeBron was severely struggling with that foot injury he has [Tuesday night vs. the Thunder]… It gets to points where it just gets unbearable and he plays through it… The way it's explained to me is that might be something that lingers all season long, but it… https://t.co/1e9TpzCoiY pic.twitter.com/Q84RfAi1dX
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) February 11, 2023
“I was told, that Tuesday game, the record-breaking game, I was told LeBron was severely struggling with that foot injury he has. It’s something that’s been nagging him for a few weeks already, but it gets to points where it just gets unbearable. And he plays through it, and … people that talked to me said he was really struggling with that foot. The way it was explained to me is that sometimes it flares up, different sides of his foot, depending on the cut, the way that he plants certain times, but the way it’s explained to me is that it’s something that might linger all season long.
“It reached a dire point, but what’s interesting is that he sat out Thursday’s game they said because of an ankle injury, not the foot, so that’s something to monitor as the season goes along as well. Like I think that’s going to be something he’s probably going to deal with throughout the course of the season. … I was told it reached a pretty unbearable point Tuesday against OKC.”
Perhaps this will somewhat quell speculation that James is purposely sitting out games and that he was more motivated to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time career scoring record than to help his team win.
If there is any good news, it is that Ham implied that James doesn’t want to simply lay low and sit out every game until the end of the NBA All-Star Game break.
I asked Darvin Ham if the idea of LeBron James sitting out until after All-Star break has been discussed. He struck that down: “No, I don’t think he’d allow us to do that.” Says the team is closely monitoring his foot day by day.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) February 12, 2023
With the Lakers still in 13th place in the Western Conference, they need all the help they can get, and it starts with James showing leadership by playing in every game he can.
