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While the status of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been a hot-button topic since he went down on Christmas Day, it’s been tough situation to gauge. Various reports have conflicted each other from time to time, and there’s no question that James has been out longer than most originally believed he would be.
To this point, James has remained sidelined for the entire month of January and the final three games of December due to the groin injury. In total, the Lakers’ star forward has missed 14 games in a row, including Monday night’s nationally-televised matchup with the Golden State Warriors. His injury has been one of many that have impacted the team in a big way while also leaving Luke Walton’s squad short handed. But there does seem to be at least some positive news beginning to come on his status.
While it’s not quite as positive of an update as James setting a return date, he has gotten some on-court reps in recently at practice.
Latest on LeBron James’ Injury Status
For the most part, a player being able to get some work in at the gym during practice while rehabbing from an injury isn’t huge, but it’s a step in the right direction. Prior to Sunday, there had been little heard about James doing much beyond his regular schedule as he pushes to get back to 100 percent.
That changed somewhat just one day prior to the team’s matchup with the Warriors. As Mike Trudell of the Lakers revealed, LeBron was able to do 5-on-5 non-contact work on Sunday. This news came from head coach Luke Walton, who cited that James “got up and down the court” during the practice session.
Potential Timeline for James’ Return
This is a good next step and one that points to James slowly getting closer to his return. With that said, he won’t be back immediately, but Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times revealed that he was at the team facility Monday to get treatment as well.
As far as a potential timeline for return goes, it’s unlikely we’ll get a final word until James feels 100 percent. That’s going to take some time, but the fact he was able to be in the mix practice in some capacity recently is a great sign. Whether or not that means he can suit up for one of the nationally televised games the Lakers have ahead will be worth monitoring.
The Lakers are set to be featured on either TNT or ABC in seven of their next 11 games, with long road stretch coming at the end of that.
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