"No. 1 goal is that he is healthy for the long haul" - Frank Vogel gives detailed update on LeBron James' injury status as LA Lakers look to salvage season

Frank Vogel has an important update on LeBron James' health status before the LA Lakers host the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.

James has missed the last three games for the Lakers due to swelling in his left knee. The Lakers have lost all three of those games, which has pushed their regular-season record (24-27) below 0.500 yet again.

Commenting on James' injury ahead of the contest against Portland, Vogel said:

"Still working on trying to get the swelling down. He's listed as doubtful for tomorrow. He is not here today. He got treatment outside of our facility today and will be listed as doubtful tomorrow."

Vogel added that the priority was LeBron James' recovery for the long term. The Lakers head coach said:

"The no. 1 goal is that he is healthy for the long haul. Everything else is less important after that. What we have to do is we have to win games when he is out. That's what it comes down to. We have enough. We have been close last couple of [games], haven't gotten over the hump. We got to get back home and put together some wins till he returns."

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LA Lakers have losing record while playing without LeBron James

Frank Vogel is right in saying that James' health takes priority over everything else. But the reality is that the LA Lakers do not play well without the 37-year-old superstar from Akron, Ohio.

The Lakers are 5-10 in his absence. They alternately have a winning record, going 19-17 in the 36 games that the 17-time All-Star has played for the purple-and-gold franchise this season.

The Lakers are currently placed in ninth spot in the Western Conference standings. That does not give them an automatic playoff spot, but does make them eligible for the play-in tournament contested by teams ranked seven to ten in their conference.

But rather concerningly, the Lakers have more games left to play on the road (17) compared to those they play in front of their home fans at Staples Center (14). They also have a contest each left to play against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Additionally, they also have to play the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz twice each. Lastly, the Lakers still have three games left against the Golden State Warriors.

All of the aforementioned teams have far superior win-loss records than the Tinseltown franchise.

Keeping the remainder of the 2021-22 schedule in mind, the LA Lakers would love to see a healthy LeBron James return to their starting five at the earliest.