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LA Lakers star forward LeBron James has yet to suit up since becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer last Tuesday versus the OKC Thunder. He has missed the Lakers’ past two games due to what has been described as “left ankle soreness.” LeBron James will sit out tonight's road game versus the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Mike Trudell.
In addition, ABC’s Lisa Salters has reported that James is likely to return on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Lakers (26-31, 13th in the West) are 2-1 against Portland (27-29, 12th in the West) this season. However, Portland is still 1.5 games ahead of LA in the standings, so Friday’s matchup could be crucial for the Lakers’ play-in chances.
Over their past two games without James, the Lakers went 1-1, winning their most recent matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday. Overall, the Lakers are 21-23 when James plays and 5-8 when he sits out this season.
LeBron James is averaging 30.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game on 50.8% shooting through 44 games.
How serious is LeBron James’ foot/ankle injury?
Despite LeBron James being listed as day-to-day and being labeled questionable for Monday night’s game, his injury could reportedly linger all season. According to Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, James' foot has caused him unbearable pain at different points this season. Haynes spoke about James’ lingering foot injury on a recent episode of his "#thisleague UNCUT" podcast.
"I was told that Tuesday's game, the record-breaking game, I was told LeBron was severely struggling with that foot injury he has," Haynes said.
He continued:
"It's something that's been nagging him for a few weeks already, but it gets to points where it just gets unbearable. And he plays through it, and ... people that talked to me said he was really struggling with that foot.
"The way it was explained to me is that sometimes it flares up, different sides of his foot, depending on the cut, the way that he plants at certain times. But the way it was explained to me is that it's something that might linger all season long."
Haynes then went on to explain that James’ foot soreness reached its peak during his record-breaking game versus OKC:
"It reached a dire point, but what's interesting is that he sat out Thursday's game they said because of an ankle injury, not the foot, so that's something to monitor as the season goes along as well.
"I think that's going to be something he's probably going to deal with throughout the course of the season. ... I was told it reached a pretty unbearable point Tuesday against OKC."
It remains to be seen how the Lakers will handle LeBron James’ injury moving forward. The team made multiple moves ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline in an effort to build a team capable of winning now. However, James is already 38 years old and the Lakers are still out of the playoff picture. Hence, the team may be forced to be cautious with their star forward the rest of the way.
Also read: NBA News Today: Orlando Magic waive Patrick Beverley, Gary Payton II trade completed, and more
