NBA
Despite conflicting reports around the league, sources say that LeBron James ‘is not close to returning’
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated17 Mar 2023
The LA Lakers will play their 71st game of the season at home tonight vs the Dallas Mavericks. It will air nationally on NBA TV at 10:30 pm EST. Once again the team will be without the help of LeBron James as he’s dealing with a right foot injury. Despite conflicting reports around the league, one of the most tapped-in sources has said that James is “not close to returning” and that’s devastating news for Lakers fans.
James has missed the last nine games in a row and 12 of the Lakers’ 15 as well. He’s dealing with a right foot injury and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has reported that James is “not close to returning” and the Lakers will have to survive without him.
After their game vs the Mavericks tonight there are only 11 regular season games left and who knows if or when Lebron may return. California Sports Betting sites have the Lakers at (+1800) to win the Finals this season.
LeBron James is ‘not close’ to returning, per @WindhorstESPN
“LeBron is not close to returning from what I'm told. I know everybody said the three weeks, but I think it was very clear three weeks is when he will get an official reevaluation. It didn't mean he was coming back in… pic.twitter.com/wFRxlMvX6i
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 17, 2023
Nobody really knows when LeBron will truly return, or if he will at all this season
The Lakers are currently ninth in the West with a 34-36 record. With eleven games left, there is still a chance for them to miss the playoffs. They only have a half-game lead on the 11th and 12th seeds and are also tied with the Thunder at 13.0 games back in the West.
There is a small margin of error left for the Lakers this season and not having LeBron hurts them even more. ESPN insider Brian Windhorst had this to report today with an injury update for James.
“LeBron is not close to returning from what I’m told,”… “I know everybody said the three weeks, but I think it was very clear three weeks is when he will get an official reevaluation. It didn’t mean he was coming back in three weeks.” – Brian Windhorst
James has only played in 47 regular season games this season and that is the second-lowest total of his career. His lowest came in 2020-21 when he played only 45 games for the Lakers. Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and the rest of the Lakers squad will play their 10th straight game without LeBron and they might have to get used to it for the rest of the season.
