Lakers: LeBron James' Injury Might Be More Serious Than We Thought

Bron's knee sounds like it is going to need some time to heal.

For the third consecutive game, the Lakers will be playing without LeBron James. The superstar is dealing with soreness in his left knee, and he will once again not be playing with the team this morning in Atlanta. 

In the two games that Bron has been out, the Lakers have gone 0-2 by losing to the 76ers and Charlotte Hornets. He was severely missed in both games, but the 2-point loss to Charlotte hurt. 

But is there reason to be legitimately concerned about LeBron right now? Before today's game against the Hawks, Frank Vogel spoke about James and the knee issue that has plagued him this week. And from what it sounds like, it might be more serious than initially thought. 

Frank Vogel said LeBron had an MRI on his knee that revealed “general swelling,” and that he returned to L.A. yesterday to get treatment. Vogel said he’ll be out as long as there’s swelling in the knee. He didn’t rule out a return for Portland (Wednesday), but it’s day to day. -Mike Trudell

The fact that it was bad enough that James needed an MRI on his knee should be concerning enough. The last thing the Lakers need at this point in the season is to have LeBron on the bench, especially as they're trying to make a push to get out of the play-in tournament.

As of right now, the Lakers are 4 games behind the Nuggets for that 6th seed in the Western Conference. But trying to get there without a guy that's averaging 30 points per game in the month of January just seems impossible. 

The most important thing right not is LeBron's health, and the Lakers will rest him as long as they need to.