Report: Lakers officially diagnose LeBron James’ injury, update his rehab timetable

After a few days of speculation, the Los Angeles Lakers have announced an update on LeBron James’ injured right foot.

He’s suffered a right foot tendon injury and will be re-evaluated in about three weeks.

If he were to miss three weeks, he would be forced to miss the Lakers’ next 10 games, plenty of which will pit them against other teams in the Western Conference fighting to secure postseason spots.

Los Angeles is currently on the outside looking in, as it sits in 11th place in the West with a 30-33 record. Wednesday’s win against the Oklahoma City Thunder moved it up in the standings, but it still remains one game behind the No. 10 seed New Orleans Pelicans.

The Lakers and Pelicans are set to face off against each other on March 14 in New Orleans in a game that will surely go a long way toward determining who makes it to the postseason and who doesn’t.

Without James this season, the Lakers are 6-10. They’l have to pick up the slack a bit in the new few games to make sure they still have a fighting chance at the postseason as the 2022-23 regular season starts to wind down.

The four-time MVP has been spectacular when available this season, recording 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while knocking down 50.1 percent of his shots and 30.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Early last month, he became the league’s all-time leading scorer, further cementing his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time.

With the regular season almost over, the Lakers don’t really have any margin for error anymore. A losing record during their upcoming five-game home stand would possibly end their season.

One would expect teams to be better at home than they are on the road. While the Lakers do hold a better record at home than on the road, they sport one of the league’s worst home records at 15-14.

While the team will be without James, there should be enough to help offset his absence a bit. Anthony Davis, who missed Wednesday’s game, should be able to carry the load for the team. D’Angelo Russell, who continues to deal with an ankle injury, will surely take a lead role once he returns to the court.

On Friday, the Lakers will host the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are in eighth place in the West. A win in that contest would be huge for the Purple and Gold.