Injuries aside, the Los Angeles Lakers seem to be trending in the right direction, and they’re moving up the standings in the Western Conference.
On Monday, the team got some good news about superstar LeBron James as well. According to a report, James has now officially started rehab on his injured foot.
“The Lakers said last Thursday that James’ right foot tendon injury will be re-evaluated in three weeks,” Shams Charania of The Athletic wrote. “I’m told he has begun his rehab, but that it is still too early to tell when exactly he’ll return. We will continue to monitor.”
James went down in the Lakers’ comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks last month. The team kept quiet on the official diagnosis and timeline of the injury at first, but it is now known to be a tendon injury in his right foot.
Some fans fear that James will miss more time even after that three-week mark. There is definitely a chance that the Lakers will have to try to secure a postseason bid without the services of their veteran superstar.
Surely, the goal for the Lakers right now is to give James as much time as he needs to sit out before hopefully heading into the postseason, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to get there without him.
Fortunately, the Lakers have been making up major ground in the West despite the absences of both James and star guard D’Angelo Russell, who is currently dealing with an ankle injury.
Of course, the main reason for that recent success has been star big man Anthony Davis and the additions the Lakers made prior to the trade deadline. The team got a huge win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors over the weekend thanks in large part to Davis’ 39-point performance.
If Davis can continue to lead the Lakers to wins and get the team within striking distance of a playoff spot, it will only mean more time for James to rehab and get healthier.
Looking ahead, if the team can get into the playoffs with a healthy James and Russell, the Lakers will be one dangerous unit in the bracket.
