It’s already been an uphill battle this season for the Lakers, and now it seems Los Angeles will have to get used to not having LeBron James on the court.
James suffered a right foot injury in Tuesday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks but finished the contest. However, the Athletic’s Shams Charania, who cited sources, reported Monday possibly one of the worst outcomes for the Lakers regarding James.
“There’s fear Lakers star LeBron James is likely to miss an extended period of time with his right foot injury,” Charania tweeted. “James suffered the injury in Sunday’s win over Dallas, played through it, and belief is he will be sidelined an indefinite amount.”
There’s been no definitive injury timetable revealed yet for James, but Charania reported “the Lakers are bracing for his absence to be multiple weeks.” Charania noted James is expected to seek out “multiple opinions” on his injury.
This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Lakers or James, who called the final 23 games of the regular season among the “most important” of his career.
Los Angeles currently sits in 12th place in the Western Conference, just a game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the final spot in the play-in tournament.
The Pelicans certainly will hope James’ injury will be the demise of the Lakers, not only to secure the spot in the play-in tournament but New Orleans also can swap first-round picks in this year’s NBA draft with the Lakers.
A freefall for the Lakers without James definitely seems plausible as this has to be the worst-case scenario for Los Angeles.
