Lakers’ LeBron James Claps Back After Reports He Will Return From Injury

The Los Angeles Lakers have been forced to navigate the latter part of their season without LeBron James, who has been sitting out games due to a tendon issue in his foot.

Yet, on March 23, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski released a report that stated LeBron could return to on-court action before the season ends.

“LeBron James is progressing toward a comeback from his right foot injury, and there is increasing optimism that the Los Angeles Lakers star could return to play “a few” games in the final week of the regular season, sources told ESPN on Thursday,” Wojnarowski wrote.

However, the superstar forward decided to clap back on Twitter, noting that he can ‘speak for himself.’

“There wasn’t an evaluation today and there hasn’t been any target date for my return. I’m just working around the clock, every day(3X a day) to give myself to best chance of coming back full strength whenever that is. God bless y’all sources. 🤦🏾‍♂️ I speak for myself,” LeBron Tweeted.

LeBron has been in stellar form when healthy, averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 50.1% from the field and 30.8% from deep.

Austin Reaves Names Drops LeBron James

When speaking to the media shortly after the Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns, fan-favorite guard Austin Reaves explained how his mentality has shifted due to the absence of LeBron in the team’s rotation.

“I mean, since Bron’s been out, you had to have multiple guys fill what he does because he does everything on the court,” Reaves said. “And so I’ve tried to be more aggressive offensively both ways. Getting teammates involved and then also scoring and getting to the line. So, it’s really just been going back and playing basketball the way that I love, the way that I’ve always played, and having fun with it.”

Darvin Ham Issues Statement on LeBron James

During a post-game press conference after the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic, Darvin Ham spoke about his plans for adjusting the rotations once LeBron is back on the court.

“I mean, we’ll navigate that when he gets here,” Ham said. “When he gets back into the flow of things, LeBron, that is. But until then, I think guys are fitting well together. It’s just, some nice guys make shots, [but] some nights, they don’t. And we have to be able to – I don’t want to say suffer through – but maintain, in spite of the ball may not be going in for everyone like it should. But at the end of the day, as long as we move the ball, trust one another. At halftime, we had 15 assists on 20 made field goals. So, guys like Austin , Dennis [Schroder], [and] even Troy [Brown Jr.] tonight, knocking in four threes. Everybody’s doing their part [and] playing their role to the best of their capabilities. If we’re able to sustain that on both sides of the ball, it’ll buy us time to really get everybody back in and fit into a position when we’re all back whole.”

The Lakers’ next game will be against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, March 24.