Is LeBron James playing tonight against the Orlando Magic? | 2021-22 NBA season

LeBron James and the LA Lakers have an opportunity to get back to winning ways following their loss to the Indiana Pacers last time out. They currently sit eighth in the Western Conference standings with a 22-23 record, falling below .500 as a result.

Things are starting to get tense in the Lakers camp as we are past the halfway mark of the season. Head Coach Frank Vogel benched Russell Westbrook late in the game against the Pacers, saying he put in the guys he believed could win.

With the team starting to lose confidence in Westbrook in clutch moments, it indicates that perhaps the experiment did not work.

The Purple and Gold have not shown any signs of dominance even though they have had enough games to build chemistry. Seeing as they have tougher fixtures in the second half of the season, they will have to change things by the trade deadline and hope Anthony Davis returns to the lineup as dominant as he was during the 2019-20 season.

Later tonight, the Lakers will start their first of a six-game road trip against the Orlando Magic. Given how dependent the team has been on LeBron James, his availability will be a significant boost.

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What is LeBron James' status for tonight's game against the Orlando Magic?

LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks to pass the ball defended by Clint Capela #15 of the Atlanta Hawks

According to the team's official injury report, LeBron James is listed as "probable" yet again due to a rectus abdominis strain. The injury sidelined him for eight consecutive games earlier in the season, but he has since featured, even though he is 100% recovered.

Despite nursing the injury, LeBron has been an absolute monster on the court. The numbers he registers every other night are more impressive when you consider that he is a 37-year-old playing his 19th season.

Although his dominance has not led to as much success as the franchise would like, LeBron cannot be faulted for how he has played the game. He has been impactful on both ends of the floor, and perhaps the Lakers could have been further down in the standings.

So far, LeBron is averaging 28.8 points this season and is only behind the Brooklyn Nets' Kevin Durant (29.3) on the scoring leaderboard. He also crossed the 10,000 rebound milestone in his last outing and drew praise from Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas for becoming the first player to record 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 9,000 assists.