Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had treatment done on his ankle during the All-Star break that held him out of Thursday’s return game against the Golden State Warriors. The result was a bad loss for the Lakers, meaning they were excited to have him back for Friday’s outing against the San Antonio Spurs. James didn’t miss a step, unsurprisingly.
James finished with 30 points on 13-of-22 from the field to go along with seven rebounds and nine assists. He was tied for a game-high plus-21 with Spencer Dinwiddie in what wound up being a five-point Lakers victory over Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. James didn’t look like his ankle was bothering him at all and looked locked in despite the fact that it was his first game in over a week.
He, for one, was happy to see how well he responded both mentally and physically on Friday night, even if things aren’t 100%.
“Feel pretty good,” James said of his ankle. “I was more surprised how well my wind was, to be honest, but my ankle did OK, so-so. I was happy to be out there and help my team win. That was the most important.”
James gave some insight into the reason for the mid-season treatment and how he plans to approach the rest of the 2023-24 calendar.
“That’s the hope. Nothing is 100 percent, but that’s the hope,” James said. “That’s the plan that me and Mike (Mancias) approached it with. It wasn’t something that we came out of the blue with, we already had clocked this months ago knowing the schedule. Just seeing ways we could maximize days when we have the opportunity. That stretch right there between last Tuesday when we played here and today was beneficial for me.”
The Lakers absolutely need James as healthy as possible if they are going to go on some type of stretch run here. At 31-27, they are still a few games out of moving up from the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference standings, and it becomes more and more difficult with each passing game.
Hopefully, James is now ready for that run without having to miss any significant time so that the Lakers can avoid another Play-In Tournament situation.
LeBron James sees special future for Wembanyama
Prior to the Lakers meeting up against the Spurs, James spoke about his thoughts on Wembanyama during what has been an incredible rookie season. He praised the French phenom, saying that he sees a special future for him if this is where he’s at less than one full season into his NBA career.
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