LeBron James hasn’t played since November 2 due to an abdominal strain, but Lakers coach Frank Vogel is hopeful the star forward will make it back soon, according to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register. James has returned to the practice court.
“His rehab is progressing nicely,” Vogel said. “He’s back to doing on-court basketball activity and this does not seem like it’s going to be an extended stretch and he’s to be considered truly day-to-day.”
We have more on the Lakers and Clippers:
- The Lakers were pounded by the Timberwolves on Friday, losing by 24 points, and Anthony Davis ripped the team afterward. Davis said the club has been “lackadaisical” in the third quarter all season and questioned its desire to be a true contender, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes. “We got to decide who we want to be. A championship team? That’s not us right now,” Davis said. “We’re not winning a championship the way we’re playing. We got to be better, and we got to care more for our wins at home. Wins in general. That was embarrassing.”
- Clippers big man Serge Ibaka volunteered to take a G League assignment in order to get his timing back after a prolonged absence due to back surgery, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register tweets. “He wanted to get down and find his rhythm,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “The game is a little fast for him, so he wanted to go down to the G League and play and get his reps, his timing. … that’s a true professional.”
- Kawhi Leonard is still expected to miss most or all of this season as he recovers from a torn right ACL but he’s showing progress, Swanson writes. “Just seeing him active and being able to jump and progress in the way he is, it’s just good to see,” Lue said. Meanwhile, Marcus Morris could return in a week or two from a knee injury, according to a TNT report. Morris hasn’t played since October 23.
Current nba championship odds
By order
Nets
Lakers
Bucks
Warriors
Jazz
Heat
Nobody respect last season winners
Suns
Hawks
Clippers
I mean the Hawks are 4-9 so…
Clippers are also without their best player, George is doing great but still.. and the suns lowballed Ayton and have the Sarver thing hanging over them lol
Hawks are playing the toughest schedule in the NBA so expect them to rebound when their schedule gets much easier later this year.
Damn i hope Kawhi returns by playoffs. will make playoffs even better
It would be great to have a fit Kawhi in the PO, but he seems the kind of player who won’t take the slightest risk with his recovery. Probably we’ll have to wait till next year.
or this is exactly how kawhi would like it every year since he barely likes playing in the regular season anyways. get healthy and the playoffs only from now on.lol
I watched that Lakers game last night, there was no point where it even looked like they had fight in them from the 3rd quarter on, I’m probably the biggest lebron hater of all time, dude allows slave labor to manufacture his shoes and says nothing, but jees louise that team needs him back, that roster is a joke without him
When a player rips his teammates in the locker room, it should be kept there.
You don’t go out and tell the media what you said.
Suddenly Anthony Davis is a team leader? Where was this “leadership” and him being vocal in NOLA? It’s not even Thanksgiving Day yet but chemistry problems arising in LA.
Without LBJ, AD needs to take over on the floor, publicly own the results (in an “I need to do better” way) and say what (if anything) he needs to say to others, face to face, not in the media. Maybe instead of making mindless statements, he should consider that his teammates now (other than RW) are minimum wage guys. Who would expect them – without herculean efforts by AD and/or RW – to even be above average, let alone championship level??