These next two weeks or so worth of games are so vital for the Lakers. The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to climb back into the playoffs without LeBron James as he’s out for weeks with an ankle injury.
There couldn’t have been a more devastating thing to happen to the Lakers organization than this injury to LeBron James.
Now, I don’t want to say that James was the entire offense as the trade deadline additions (Rui Hachimura, DeAngelo Russell, Jared Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley) and some of the Day 1 roster players (ex: Austin Reaves, Dennis Schröder, Lonnie Walker) have been very good for LA, but losing LeBron James is akin to Batman losing all of his tech, the Batcave, the Bat Family, and his Bat-gear.
Yes, Batman still has his supreme martial arts skill and genius mind, but he’s so severely weakened to the point that he’s about as intimidating as Ant-Man. That’s how bad this injury is for the Lakers.
LeBron James was having one of the greatest seasons of his career as he not only broke Kareem Abdul-Jabhar’s NBA all-time scoring record of 38,387 points by averaging 29.5 PPG, but he also was just as helpful in facilitating his teammates with an average of 6.9 APG and on defense with an average of 8.4 RPG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.6 BPG.
Plus, with him shooting 50.1% from the field, LeBron was also one of the Lakers most consistent shooters too.
Yet, the Lakers are going to be without all of that offensive and defensive production as he’s set to miss at least the next two weeks with an ankle injury he suffered in the Lakers remarkable 27-point comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks two nights ago.
I’m not entirely sure what is exactly wrong with LeBron James as neither he nor the Lakers have put out any public statements clarifying the injury, but it probably has something to do with the bones in his foot.
You could see LeBron saying, “I heard it pop” when some of his teammates asked what was wrong with him, which usually points to either an ankle, bone, or joint issues. And, seeing how Hornets guard LaMelo Ball went down with a fractured ankle a few days ago and also said he “heard something pop” to his bench, a bone break/fracture in his foot or ankle is my best guess.
But, again, I’m definitely not a doctor, so I’m probably 1000% wrong.
Anyway, the Lakers are going to have to rely heavily on Anthony Davis (yeah, that is a rather funny contradiction) to not only be the star scorer and rebounder of this team, but also to stay healthy over the next 8 or so games. DeAngelo Russell is already out with an ankle injury and the rest of the roster doesn’t have the capability to take the Lakers by the reigns and beat teams night in and night out, so Anthony Davis is the only healthy, capable player to lead the Lakers to the playoffs.
I mean, the Lakers are supposed to have the easiest schedule remaining as they have to face off against the Grizzlies (2nd in West) twice, OKC (14th in West), the Timberwolves (9th in West), Golden State (7th in West), the Raptors (9th in East), the Knicks (5th in East), and the Pelicans (10th in West) over the next two weeks.
So, if there was any set of teams that gives AD the best chance to dominate and beat, I’d pick at least four of these ones for him to go up against.
Nevertheless, I’m just not sure the Lakers will be able to beat off these teams as I don’t believe they have the leadership and fortitude to win without LeBron James willing them on. They won’t be able to beat the Grizzlies, Warriors, and Knicks without James and a questionably motivated AD, while the Timberwolves and OKC are extremely dangerous sides that could pull off an upset over the Lakers even if they had LeBron James.
Truthfully, if LeBron doesn’t comeback before the end of the two-week recovery period the Lakers have set on his ankle injury, the Lakers might as well pack up their lockers and call it a season as they’ll fall too far behind the Play-In teams to even make the 10th seed.
So, for the sake of all Lakers fans, LeBron James better have a miraculous recovery or else it’ll be another season without playoff basketball for LA.
And, as a Boston Celtics fan, all I can say to that is…HAHAHAHA!
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