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- Report: Lakers upgrade LeBron James’ status for Sunday’s matchup vs. Bulls
- Former NBA player says Austin Reaves is overhyped because he’s ‘white’ and the Lakers are ‘trash’
- Austin Reaves’ semi-worrisome comments about his future with Lakers
- Austin Reaves says he had to buy LeBron James Xbox controller as one of his rookie duties on Lakers
- Tristan Thompson says he surprised LeBron James during Lakers workout: ‘I haven’t seen this since Cleveland’
- Draymond Green says the Lakers are a ‘serious threat’ in the Western Conference
- Report: Lakers downgrade D’Angelo Russell’s status for Friday’s matchup vs. Thunder
- Kendrick Perkins rips ‘borderline senior citizen’ Chris Paul for letting Austin Reaves drop 25 points on him
- Anthony Davis issues confident statement on Lakers playoff hopes: ‘You put anybody against us, I like our chances’
Report: Lakers TV ratings down significantly without LeBron James in lineup
- Updated: March 29, 2021
Los Angeles Lakers four-time MVP LeBron James’ absence due to injury is being felt big time in regards to television ratings.
“With James and Anthony Davis both out due to injury, the Lakers’ blowout loss to the [New Orleans] Pelicans Tuesday night averaged 920,000 viewers on TNT — down 35% from [Houston] Rockets-[Milwaukee] Bucks on the comparable night in 2019 (1.41M) and the least-watched Laker game on ESPN, ABC or TNT since James joined the team in 2018,” reported SportsMediaWatch.com. “The previous low was 970,000 for a 2019 Lakers-Jazz game in which James sat out.
“By comparison, the Lakers’ previous game on one of those networks — James and company against the [Golden State] Warriors on ESPN March 15 — averaged a much healthier 1.29 million, up 11% from 2019 ([Indiana] Pacers-[Portland Trail] Blazers: 1.16M).”
James, 36, suffered a high ankle sprain against the Atlanta Hawks on March 20.
The veteran is expected to miss multiple weeks of action. In five full games without James since the injury, the Lakers have gone 2-3.
On the season, James is collecting 25.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game. He was a frontrunner for the MVP award before the ankle injury struck him.
Of course, the Lakers are also without superstar Anthony Davis, who has been out for an extended period of time due to a calf injury. The big man is averaging 22.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest this season.
Certainly, the defending champs are not as fun to watch without their dynamic duo.
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