Lakers Rumors: LA Gearing Up For Playoff Push Sans LeBron James?

Not ideal.

Your Los Angeles Lakers were dealt a massive blow to their current push for a postseason run, when it was revealed that they would, at minimum, be missing their best player LeBron James for the next three weeks due to a right tendon injury.

Multiple doctors were purportedly consulted about the ailment. It's frustrating that the public has still not been totally informed of the exact prognosis, although at least we know he won't require surgery.

Now, however, it appears that the three-week timeline may be a bit optimistic. To be clear, James is only set to have his injury reassessed in three weeks (well, two-and-a-half now, I suppose). That doesn't mean he'll be given the actual green light to suit up again at that juncture. LA only has six weeks left in its regular season, and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN thinks it's possible the club is making contingency plans.

Woj: "[The Lakers] are preparing for the possibility that they've got to make their postseason run without LeBron James in this regular season." pic.twitter.com/OOfUl8vUEo

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) March 2, 2023

"Now you're down another 10 games in this window inside of the last 10 games of the regular season, that ends in early April," Wojnarowski said. "So I think for the Lakers right now, they're preparing for the possibility that they've got to make their postseason run without LeBron James in this regular season. They probably don't have enough maybe right now to make a run to sixth as Darvin Ham hoped they would, but they certainly have enough, one game back from the 10th seed in the West and the play-in, to hang around that with New Orleans, with the Utah Jazz, and hope that they can be in playoff contention when it's possible for LeBron James to come back. He's in a walking boot now."

"At 38 years old, a player of LeBron James's stature, [the Lakers have] got to play the long game with this and really make a decision at some point this season, if he's not ready to return, about the risk-reward of trying to rush him back in any way."

Woj seems bullish on LA's postseason prospects even without King James. That's comforting to hear, but it also supposes that D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Davis will be mostly healthy down the stretch here. I am skeptical.

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