The Los Angeles Lakers got one game of having all three of their stars back on the court together before seeing another go down. After beating the Nets in Brooklyn in Anthony Davis’ return to action, the Lakers have dropped two in a row to the Sixers and Hornets, both of which they played without the services of LeBron James.
James has been dealing with knee soreness, a rather vague designation, but something the Lakers wanted to be cautious with. After two games missed, James’ knee was apparently not doing any better and the Lakers had him get an MRI done to ensure there was no structural damage. On Sunday, coach Frank Vogel delivered the results of that MRI, saying it showed “general swelling,” but that the continued swelling issue would keep James out until it subsides and that the star had flown back to L.A. with the team still with one game left on their road trip in Atlanta on Sunday.
James received a MRI and it revealed general swelling https://t.co/oZxsSRrubw
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 30, 2022
James is in the midst of one of the best offensive seasons of his career, averaging 29.1 points along with 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game on 52.2/35.2/75.9 shooting splits — his highest scoring average since 2009-10 in Cleveland. He has been tasked with an immense scoring and creation burden with the combination of Lakers injuries and general roster construction issues, and James shrugged off questions about whether he was worried about his increased workload recently.
The Lakers will remain cautious with James’ injury, and if there’s some good news it is that they won’t play again until Wednesday after they conclude their road trip in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. Whether James’ knee responds well enough to treatment to get him back this week or not remains to be seen, but every game without LeBron is an uphill battle for this Lakers team.