Los Angeles Lakers Release Concerning Injury News on LeBron James

LeBron James is now on the Los Angeles Lakers injury list. The Lakers have been struggling since coming to the NBA bubble. They are coming off a huge loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in which the entire team looked out of sorts entirely. The number 1 seed in the West is secured, but they had better get it together.

Sadly, it looks like that might be even more difficult now. LeBron James has officially made his way back to the injury list.

Most notable from the Lakers injury report today: LeBron James is out for tonight’s game against the Rockets.

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) August 6, 2020

Last season, James missed a whopping 27 games, the most in his career, due to a groin injury that would not go away. This makes this annoucement even more jarring.

But before we get too worked up, there are a few reasons why this might not be a big deal at all. Firstly, this is a back to back, which LeBron often sits out one of the games. Secondly, and more notable, the Lakers have already clinched the number 1 seed. This means that there really isn’t anything to play for at all.

Head coach Frank Vogel talked about this announcement.

Los Angeles Lakers Release Concerning Injury News on LeBron James

“The plan right now is to play those guys,” Vogel said. “We still have a lot of areas to continue to improve before we feel like we’re ready to win games in the playoffs and to be at the level that we want to reach. So for us, we’re still in habit-building mode and continuing to just iron some things out. We’re not quite where we were, in my opinion, when the hiatus hit. So our mindset is to continue to play our guys and to get there.”

Before the restart, James talked about how the break could have impacted his body and health.

“When you’ve been building six months of conditioning and preparation and then (it’s gone), the narrative that I don’t like (is), ‘Well, now guys get so much rest.’ Or, like, ‘LeBron, he’s 35, he’s got so many minutes on his body, now he gets so much rest,’” James said. “It’s actually the opposite for me because my body, when we stopped playing, was asking me, like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’

“My body was like, ‘Hey man, what the hell is going on? It’s March 13, you’re getting ready for the playoffs, why are you shutting down right now?’ And I was right there turning the corner, like, I felt like I was rounding third base, getting ready for the postseason.”

What do you think about this announcement?