LeBron James and the Lakers Season Feels Over After Latest Report
LeBron James is going to miss an extended period of time and the Los Angeles Lakers season is now basically over. James has a "right foot tendon injury" and will be reevaluated in three weeks according to the team. Keep in mind he's not expected back in three weeks. He's going to be reevaluated.
From the Los Angeles Lakers:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 2, 2023
LeBron James has been evaluated by Lakers team physicians and medical staff, and it has been determined that he has sustained a right foot tendon injury. James will be reevaluated in approximately three weeks.
This is LeBron of course. He's been indestructible for most of his career. So maybe they'll come back three weeks from now and decide he's ready to go. He'll have still missed half the Lakers' remaining schedule and there will be nine games remaining and just over two weeks to play them.
Seems like a heavy workload for a guy who just missed the better part of a month with a nondescript foot injury. James Harden missed a full month at the start of the season with a similarly vague foot tendon strain.
It's pure conjecture, but maybe LeBron might actually be done for the year. This season was a failure anyway. Even if the Lakers did just look like a contender in the Western Conference to ESPN earlier this week. Messing around with an injury like this could have grave consequences for LeBron if he doesn't heal properly.
The smart thing to do would be to shut it down, get healthy, and hopefully put together a team around him next season that isn't fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament in March.