At least he’s got the All-Star break coming up?
Apparently, the sore left ankle that has been hounding Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James for a good long while this year has not really improved all that much. Los Angeles head coach Darvin Ham acknowledged yesterday that James was sitting out the Lakers’ eventual 121-104 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in part to rest the ankle.
Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, James conceded that his pain stemming from the injury changes “day to day.”
So how will LBJ manage the injury down the stretch of the 2022-23 regular season, when every game starts to matter for a 24-28 team that would miss the West’s play-in tournament if the postseason started right now?
Outside of sitting out one game in back-to-back sets down the season’s home stretch, he’ll be getting a bit of a schedule break this month, as the NBA’s 2023 All-Star Weekend festivities run from February 17th-19th. Games won’t resume until February 23rd.
James will only be participating in the 2023 All-Star Game proper on Sunday (unless he becomes a last-minute Slam Dunk Contest contender on Saturday or something, which would be much appreciated, but is not expected), and even that is just a glorified scrimmage until the Elam Ending.
The temptation right now would be for LA to rest James a bit more heading into the All-Star break. But the Lakers can’t really win without him, given how thin the team’s roster remains outside of him and Anthony Davis. And Los Angeles needs every win it can get.
