LeBron James Final Injury Status for Lakers Game At Milwaukee Revealed

Eva Geitheim | Mar 26, 2024

Philadelphia 76ers v Los Angeles Lakers / Sean M. Haffey/GettyImages

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has officially been ruled out for Tuesday's game at Milwaukee. James is dealing with left ankle peroneal tendinopathy, and will not play tonight, via The Athletic's Jovan Buha.

Though James was available to play Sunday in the Lakers' 150-145 win over the Indiana Pacers, when he put up 26 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, the Lakers will have to strive for the win without him. This will be no easy task as the Lakers take on the Bucks, who are one of the NBA's top teams. The Bucks currently hold a 46-25 record and are the No. 2 seeded team in the Eastern Conference.

It's unclear if James will be ready for either of the Lakers' next two games this week, at the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday, or at the Indiana Pacers on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are in a trickier spot as they hold the ninth seed in the Western Conference. They are currently slated to play in the play-in tournament, but ideally don't want to risk dropping further in the standings.

The good news for Los Angeles as they take on a great Bucks team without their best player is they had several other players going off in their last game. The Lakers had four total players score at least 25 points against a good Pacers team Sunday. Anthony Davis led the charge with 36 points, 16 rebounds and three assists. Austin Reaves added 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Spencer Dinwiddie shined with 26 points, five assists and two rebounds.

The other positive for the Lakers is though they'll be without James, they should get D'Angelo Russell back. Russell missed Sunday's game with an illness, but has not been listed on the injury report heading into Tuesday's game. Additionally, the Lakers defeated the Bucks 123-122 in their most recent game, when they were also without James. They should be a huge sign of encouragement for the Lakers, who already proved recently they can take down the Bucks without James.