LeBron James Injury Update: Coach Ham With 4x Champ’s Latest Status 18 Games Before Playoffs

The Los Angeles Lakers will be hosting the Milwaukee Bucks tonight, but LeBron James will be watching the game from the sidelines. The 4x champion’s ankle issues continue to be a bothersome roadblock. And it has stayed with him throughout the season. More often than not, James has been listed as questionable and probable ahead of games.

Most of the time, however, Bron does suit up, but the team has decided to let him rest tonight. Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweeted, “Ham adds that it’s a “day-to-day thing” with James. He said this isn’t something that’s expected to be cured before the season ends, so James and the Lakers will have to manage it the rest of the way.”

Despite what the King is capable of on the floor, there is only so much his body can handle. After 21 years of being shoved, tackled, hit, and more, it’s only natural that there will be some kind of repercussions. And for James, it is the ankle. On Wednesday’s 120-130 loss to the Sacramento Kings, LeBron’s departure in the late fourth quarter set the stage for the team to let the 39-year-old veteran rest.

Talking to the Lakers Nation’s reporter post-game, the ‘Akron Hammer’ had revealed similar thoughts to Ham above. The 4x MVP said that his ankle acts up unpredictably and while some games might be a breeze, he’s not so lucky in others. Although the Lakers planned to play LeBron James under 30 minutes for the season, it has become clear that his team still relies a little too heavily on their superstar to take them across the bridge.

The Lakers need to put on their big-boy pants sooner rather than later

Rather than hoping and letting LeBron James carry the entire weight of the franchise on his shoulders, Los Angeles needs to prepare themselves for a LeBron-less era soon. Even though the ‘L Train’ would love to continue as long as he can and preferably in a purple and gold jersey, there is this entity called Father Time in his way. Nonetheless, it hasn’t stopped James from putting up major numbers on his stat sheet.

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He is currently averaging 25.3 points, 8.0 assists, and 7.1 rebounds per game. And we don’t even have to go to the awards, records, and honors section. The first player in the NBA history to reach 40,000 points, the all-time leading scorer, and many more firsts sit proudly in his resume. Everything that a renowned, accomplished basketball player can do, LeBron has done. Achieved. All that’s left on his bucket list is to play alongside his son in the league.

But there’s another, more urgent matter for the Lakers to attend to – the postseason. With just 18 games left before the playoffs begin, there is no doubt that the Purple & Gold would want their best player at the top of his game. And probably find a way to play around his continued ankle issues.