LeBron James Injury: Lakers’ Playoff Chances Plummet After Report
James could miss more than half of LA's remaining games
The latest reports regarding the foot injury and ensuing recovery timeline for LeBron James serve as a brutal blow to the Los Angeles Lakers' playoff chances.
The Athletic's Shams Charania initially reported James is expected to miss an extended amount of time and added Tuesday morning he's hearing it will be at least two or three weeks. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski followed up by reporting the Lakers will reassess in two weeks, but his return is expected to be beyond that point.
LA's final game of the regular season is April 9, six weeks from when the injury occurred against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Should he miss two weeks, that stretch would include seven games while three weeks would mean an 11-game absence.
It's not a stretch to say James' injury is a season-altering development for the Lakers, who currently sit as the 12th seed in the Western Conference standings. LA is a mere half-game back of the NBA Play-In Tournament and 2.5 games back of the sixth seed.
"This injury comes at a devastating time, an inopportune time," Charania said, per FanDuel TV. "There's 21 games in the Lakers season left. They've won three in a row, they're 2.5 games back of sixth place and now LeBron James is going to be out an extended period of time.
"Anthony Davis is going to have a lot of the burden on him now, but this team is without LeBron James, and we don't know when he's going to be back," Charania continued. "The hope is for the Lakers and LeBron that over the next two or three weeks that injury doesn't flare up as much, it can tone down and he can try to return before the playoffs. Just a devastating injury at a devastating time for the Lakers."
The postseason prospects for the Lakers undoubtedly took a hit given the latest reports. FanDuel Sportsbook now has LA notably favored to miss the playoffs at -290. The Lakers were -110 to make the playoffs on FanDuel as of Monday afternoon, per FanSided, and now are +225. They're 34-to-1 to win the Western Conference and 55-1 to win the NBA Finals. DraftKings Sportsbook took LA's playoff prices off the board likely because of the James uncertainty.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the right foot injury to James on Sunday, as Charania hinted, came with LA seemingly finding its rhythm. James and company had won four of its last five games including a pair after the NBA All-Star break. Now they'll continue to scratch and claw for a playoff spot.
