The chances of the Los Angeles Lakers extending their five-game win streak were lessened greatly when news came down that superstar LeBron James would sit out the team’s contest against the Denver Nuggets. Unfortunately, Darvin Ham’s team was not able to overcome the odds with so many injuries, falling to the Nuggets by 13.
James has been truly unbelievable in his 20th NBA season but has been battling some minor injuries that have forced him to sit out a couple of games here and there. With Anthony Davis already out, the Lakers can ill-afford to be without LeBron as well, but Ham is looking more at the big picture when it comes to his biggest star.
Ham spoke about the process that goes into deciding LeBron’s status on a daily basis prior to the Lakers’ contest in Denver. The Lakers head coach says it is something the coaching staff and James work with on a daily basis and he will not risk any sort of long-term injury possibility when some rest will do, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“With LeBron it’s just a daily thing in terms of how he’s feeling. He listens to his body, very responsible in that regard. At the end of the day we’ve been playing well obviously, but we don’t wanna subject our guys to something that a little rest can help in the short-term. We don’t wanna force the issue where it turns into a long-term issue so him sitting out is totally fine.”
The Lakers are in a difficult position as they do need all of the wins in the short term in order to get themselves into playoff positioning after their awful start. But long-term health is always top priority, especially for someone like LeBron and sometimes that leads to missing a game now in order to ensure he is good for the stretch run.
The problem for the Lakers is the litany of other injuries hurting the roster right now. Both Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV are out as is Troy Brown Jr., and the Lakers lost another player in the Nuggets game as well with Patrick Beverley going down with a hip injury.
LeBron is crucial for any chance at success for the Lakers and as long as he and the coaching staff are in constant communication, they will be able to decide the best course of action every night.
LeBron James named Western Conference Player of the Week
Any time James isn’t on the court it’s a big loss for the Lakers, but it’s even worse when he is in the midst of the best run of this season. As such, it was no surprise that he was named Western Conference Player of the Week.
LeBron averaged 35 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists in the three games he played last week, all Lakers wins, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field. This was James’ NBA-record 66th player of the week award and his first since Dec. 2021.
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