LeBron James leaves Lakers' road trip early due to ankle injury while playoff hopes fade
LeBron James has left the Lakers and returned home to Los Angeles amid his ankle injury, the team announced on Wednesday.
As a result, James will not play in the Lakers’ game against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Thursday. He was expected to sit out of that contest regardless.
James first rolled his ankle on Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans after he stepped on Jaxson Hayes’ foot. He finished that game, and dropped 39 points in 42 minutes, but said after that his ankle felt “horrible.”
He hasn’t played since.
James has averaged a career-high 30.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 55 games so far this season.
The Lakers enter Thursday’s game on a three-game losing streak and have lost seven of their last nine. They haven’t won consecutive games since early January.
The Lakers are currently in 11th in the Western Conference standings, though they hold the same record as the 10th-place San Antonio Spurs. As of Wednesday afternoon, they are set to miss the postseason play-in — which would mark the second time in four years that James and the Lakers miss the playoffs altogether.
It’s unclear how long James will be sidelined with his ankle injury. They will have six regular season games left after their matchup with the Jazz, starting on Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis is still recovering from a MCL sprain/foot sprain, but he’s targeting either Friday’s game or Sunday’s game against the Denver Nuggets for his return.
