MAY 11, 2:30pm: James has decided to rest his ankle for one more day and is now targeting Wednesday vs. Houston for his return, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin (Twitter link).
MAY 10, 7:35pm: James is listed as out for Tuesday’s game, though Jovan Buha of The Athletic notes that he was listed as out against Sacramento before his previous return from injury (Twitter link).
MAY 10, 9:31am: Lakers star LeBron James is aiming to return from his ankle injury on Tuesday vs. the Knicks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
A source tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) that James has had two “really good days of workouts at a high level” and feels great. If James is unable to get back on the floor on Tuesday, he’d target Wednesday vs. Houston for his return, per Charania and Haynes.
James, who missed 20 games due to a high ankle sprain, came back on April 30 and played in two games before that ankle injury sidelined him again. He has been out for the team’s last four contests.
Although the Lakers are fighting to avoid finishing in seventh in the West, the team is more focused on making sure LeBron and fellow star Anthony Davis are healthy for the postseason, rather going all-out to move up to sixth and avoid the play-in tournament.
Still, getting James back in the lineup before the regular season ends would help get him up to speed and build chemistry among the club’s top lineups, which would benefit the Lakers whether they finish sixth or seventh.
Currently, Portland is a game ahead of the Lakers for the No. 6 seed and also controls the tiebreaker. L.A. has four winnable games left (vs. NYK, vs. HOU, at IND, and at NOP), but even if the Lakers finish 4-0, they’d have to count on the Blazers losing at least two of their remaining games (vs. HOU, at UTA, at PHX, vs. DEN) in order to pass them in the standings.
If u sleep on the Lakers you’re likely to have a nIgHtMaRe…
Their season has been a total nightmare since Valentine’s Day. Going 17-24.
Even though he was listed as out, almost everyone thought that LeBron was going to play tonight. Maybe he will be rested enough tomorrow when the Rockets come to town. It would be hilarious if they lost at home to Houston.
Big West doormat CSUN would beat the rockets
Lol there’s just countless people sleeping on the team who won the title last year with the best player in the league in the roster, laker/lebron simps are hilarious
How dare you
anyone feel like lebum’s injury isnt as serious as its been reported and this is a ploy to make him seem heroic if he wins a championship
Uh, no?
No, not everyone is obsessed with LeBron James to the point of imagining absurd scenarios.
If it’s an intentional thing it’s not the worst decision lebron has ever made
I think Lebon is too competitive to do that. Prior to LA he’s barely missed time. I think AD was supposed to miss more time, but I wouldn’t doubt Lebron convincing AD to play to prevent them dropping more in the standings.
Take off the tin foil hat. The derangement of some LeBron haters is insane. Yeah I’m sure they want to play in the play in game just to make LeBron look better as a defending champion.
It’s not as insane as the derangement of the LeBron worshipers.
They worship at the altar of their “golden goat” who’s #4 at best.
I don’t see nearly the amount of people hyping him up here than the haters and nonsense like he is faking an injury to come in and save the day. And idc who you think the GOAT is, LeBron is top 2 of all time. That’s not even debatable l.
Right? OMG LeBron might not be the best player ever. He is AWFUL
he should finish 33rd for 6th man of the year.
Woodie it’s too bad that your team blows so hard that you find solace in hating greatness. Never gets old knowing the Lakers left the Rocket franchise smoldering
Lakers are on their way down, Rockets have nowhere to go but up.
And everyone hates the Rockets too because they’re great, I love it!
When you finish with the worst record in the league you only have one way to go. Just because you wish the Lakers are going down downs tamale it true. Again, seeing the Lakers leave the franchise in ruins and seeing that POS Morey slither out of town was almost as good as winning #17. Almost
Who ever loved the rockets? You should thank mj for his 2 retirement years because that was the rockets only path to relevancy…
They should be back on top soon according to WallyWorld…and by back on top, he means having a winning record with nothing else to show for it
Only people with zero brains!
Only you Sueuss, only you
Can the Suns fans accept the Suns lose in the first round？
Thunder and Kings may not beat Jazz this week
Nice win over Suns. AD finally showed up . This is why he is here. I hope Bron plays. We want Bron n AD.
Their season is already over, they just don’t know it yet.
I agree… how about Westbrook lol. Always liked him. Man he comes to NY he will own the city. I’d love to have him end his career here. We will give him the send off he deserves. Big O is one my favorite players ever. Never saw him play only tape. But to be in his space. I find it unbelievable
Notice how Westbrook stepped up when he left rockets.. hardenWestbrookmvp? 2 dumb moves.. giving up Westbrook for wall.. and dumping money on wood.. also, giving up Jarrett Allen and lavert in the harden trade.. that harden trade netted you nothing..
Lookin forward to this guys retirement and out of the game.
He doesn’t think that of you. He doesn’t think of you at all.
That’s pretty sad lol maybe get a goldfish?
AD looking great. Besides talent, seems more mature, if that’s not just espn highlight editing.
Much better to end up #7 than #5 or #6!
The #5-6 seeds will have a tough going with LAC & DEN, likely out in R1…
Meanwhile the #7 will have an easy & comfortable outing with PHO or UTA!
But they also have a chance to be out of the playoffs in 2 games. Anything can happen in a single game. The worst team in the NBA has beaten the best team in a single game before. It is not implausible to lose a single game to the Warriors. It is also not implausible to lose a single game against an upstart Grizzlies team. I wouldn’t take either the Warriors or Grizzlies in a 7 game series over the Lakers, but in 1 game it could easily happen.
Luckily the Lakers get to play an utterly depleted Rockets team who has eleven players on their injury list before they have to worry about the play-in tournament. Should be an easy win tomorrow.
In that case if they can’t beat GSW or MEM… well they don’t have no business competing, so it wouldn’t be a great miss to be out of the playoffs, right?
But the point is that UTA or PHO would be easy out in the first round if they play against DEN, LAL or LAC… maybe even DAL as well!
He doesn’t want any part of the Knicks tonight. I don’t blame him.
Pretty crazy to imagine the Warriors and the Lakers in the first playin game, and the loser would win the next playin game and become the 8th seed and quite possibly knock off the Jazz in the first round.
All the work the Jazz did in such a great season to finish with the number one seed and get bounced by the Lakers or the Warriors in the first round. Yikes, very possible !!
Avoiding the play-in shouldn’t drive a premature return. Focus should be on being healthy for the start of the post-season. If a healthy Laker team can’t win 1 game before losing 2, against .500 teams, then they likely weren’t going anywhere anyway. Plus, it’s mostly outside of their control at this point.
Refreshing to see a take devoid of emotion or being narrative driven ….Per usual, top shelf stuff DXC
DXC has always been the best. Knowledgeable, accurate, good basketball sense. I agree Cap & Crunch.
Avoiding a team on a roll and instead facing one of the worst ones in the league is so on brand for Lebron.