Lakers star LeBron James is nearing a return from a tendon injury to his right foot suffered in late February, according to a report from Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
Per the report, James has begun on-court activity as he continues to recover from the injury. The Lakers have not yet put a timetable on the return of James to the lineup, but league sources told Charania and Buha that he is hopeful for a return to the lineup within the final three to four games of the regular season.
Shortly after the report, James took to Twitter to deny it, writing, “There wasn’t an evaluation today and there hasn’t been any target date for my return.
“I’m just working around the clock, every day(3X a day) to give myself to best chance of coming back full strength whenever that is,” he added, with a facepalm emoji. “I speak for myself!”
The Lakers are 11–6 since the trade deadline and 7–5 without James in the lineup. As Los Angeles continues to jockey for playoff position in the West, the Lakers sit in the 10th and final postseason spot with a 36–37 record on the season. If the year ended today, Los Angeles would be in the play-in tournament.
Since the Lakers are just a half-game clear of the Jazz and Pelicans for the final play-in spot, there is plenty of incentive for James to try to get himself back on the floor. The Lakers are a much better team with him in the lineup, and he has been outstanding this season at 38 years old.
James is averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists this season.
