LeBron James update: Lakers star returning vs. Bulls after missing 13 games with foot injury
LeBron James is making his return from a right foot injury on Sunday against the Bulls, the Lakers announced less than an hour before tipoff. James has missed his team's past 13 games due to that foot injury, but tested it in pregame warmups and is good to go in the Sunday matinee in Los Angeles. However, James will not be part of the Lakers starting lineup. Instead, James will come off the bench for just the second time in his NBA career (1,414 regular season games) and the first time since 2007.
The injury itself came in the middle of a Feb. 26 clash with the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers trailed by as many as 27 points in the Game, but James played through the injury to help the Lakers complete the comeback. He finished that contest with 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists, but he has been sidelined ever since.
LeBron just got out here for warmups 👀 pic.twitter.com/7nrSha0912
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) March 26, 2023
The Lakers have thrived in his absence. They are now 8-5 since James went down, and after spending most of the season in the No. 13 slot in the Western Conference standings, they have now risen to No. 8. Friday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder got the Lakers to .500 for the first time this season. They are now 37-37 and well-positioned to reach the postseason either through the play-in round or by getting into the top six and making the playoffs outright.
Of course, getting there is one thing. Winning there is another. A hobbled James would have made a real postseason run almost impossible. Anthony Davis has kept the team afloat without James. Austin Reaves has emerged as a key starter and ball-handler with James out, but ultimately, this team's postseason dreams rely on having two superstars. James is one of them, and the roster around him looks significantly stronger since the Lakers traded Russell Westbrook for D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt at the deadline.
The Lakers have eight Games left on their schedule. If James is able to return on Sunday or in the near future, there is still time for him to quickly ramp up for a postseason run. In 2021, James returned from an injury with only two Games left in the regular season and was never quite himself in a first-round loss to Phoenix. With more time left to work with, though, the Lakers have never looked like more of a postseason threat than they do today.
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