Report: LeBron James expected to miss 'several weeks' with high ankle sprain
LeBron James' absence due to a high ankle sprain is tough for the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans to bear, but there is a tiny sliver of good news.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday that James is expected to miss "several weeks" while he heals from his injury. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski added some real numbers to that estimate, saying on "Get Up" that the Lakers are reportedly preparing for James to miss three to four weeks. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes initially reported that James was going to be out "indefinitely."
James injured his ankle on Saturday night when the Lakers were facing the Atlanta Hawks. His ankle collapsed under him while he was diving for the ball, and he was on the floor in significant pain. In true LeBron form, he stayed in the game, hit a 3-pointer, and then went back to the locker room.
Bron appears to turn his ankle, stays in the game and hits a three, then heads to the locker room pic.twitter.com/OdTrDW77o1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 20, 2021
Lakers have a tough few weeks ahead
LeBron being out for "several weeks" or "four weeks" is better than "indefinitely." But it doesn't make life any easier for the Lakers, who were already without their other star, Anthony Davis.
Davis has been out for more than a month with a calf strain, and Woj said that the Lakers aren't planning to rush his return just because James is injured. According to Haynes, Davis will likely be out at least another two weeks, if not longer. If that holds, he could return around the same time as James, or even slightly before.
Getting both Davis and James back in close succession would be huge for the Lakers, because things aren't looking too fabulous without them. In the 15 games that Davis has missed, the Lakers have gone 7-8. They've spent just one game without both Davis and James, which ended in a 111-94 loss to the Phoenix Suns — a loss that allowed the Suns to rise above them in the Western Conference standings.
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