LeBron James may be returning right when the Los Angeles Lakers need him most.
The perennial All-Star initially suffered a high-ankle sprain March 20 that placed him out indefinitely, and while he returned to the lineup for an April 30 matchup with Sacramento, he re-aggravated the injury in a loss to Toronto on May 2.
Now, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic, James is set to return (again) this week:
The news comes after fellow Lakers All-Star Anthony Davis expressed confidence in James’s recovery:
Across his four-time championship career, James has in some ways put more rigorous miles on his body than any player before him. This ankle injury marked the longest absence of the floor since entering the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, and he has expressed some concern in terms of long-term effects.
“I don’t think I will ever get back to 100 percent in my career,” James said after putting in 32 minutes in the Lakers’ 110-106 loss to Sacramento (h/t ESPN).
However, he contradicted himself after his May 2 exit:
The 38-30 Lakers are hoping against hope that James’s level of concern is actually low, as they are teetering between a guaranteed playoff spot and having to participate in the play-in tournament. L.A. sits at seventh in the Western Conference, and the top six teams in each conference will avoid the play-in.
The reigning NBA champions have four games remaining on their regular-season schedule: vs. New York (Tuesday), vs. Houston (Wednesday), at Indiana (Saturday) and at New Orleans (Sunday).
James, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, is averaging 25 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.8 assists across 43 games (all starts).
Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer with previous work appearing in places such as Billboard, Bleacher Report, GQ and others. She’s most interested in writing about people and how they live their lives, through the framework of music, entertainment and sports.
