LeBron James is set to return from injury soon, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a much-needed boost.
After stumbling out of the gate, the Los Angeles Lakers have done well to recover over the last couple of weeks. In their last nine games, the Lakers are 6-3 and have done a great job of surviving without an injured LeBron James.
An argument could be made that the Lakers are pretty bad right now, but the fact that they’re 8-6 is actually quite impressive. Especially considering that LeBron has only played in six games this season.
So as the Lakers have done a good job is staying afloat in the Western Conference, good news has come across the wire for the team. LeBron is expected to make his return “soon.” LeBron has missed the last two weeks of game action due to an abdomen injury.
Help is on the way for Los Angeles, however.
"“Soon,” a source close to James told ESPN when asked about James’ return timetable."
The big question is what does “soon” mean exactly? Well, that’s not an easy thing to answer. One person’s definition of “soon” might be completely different than someone else’s. And who knows what that means for LeBron, especially when considering an 82-game season.
It should be noted that LeBron has still not taken part in contact drills, much less participated in a practice, per Lakers head coach Frank Vogel. That matters and is essential information when trying to pinpoint a potential return date.
But if there’s one thing that we can almost certainly be sure about, it’s that there’s really no reason for the Lakers to rush LeBron’s return. Especially with how Los Angeles, relatively, has played over the last couple of weeks.
They might not be playing at the contender level that perhaps many expected them to be playing at, but this team is slowly getting better and creating some much-needed chemistry with each other.
Once LeBron returns, I believe we’re really going to see this team flourish on a level that perhaps we haven’t seen thus far this season. LeBron needs to make sure he’s healthy and fully healthy before he returns. Soon enough, the Lakers will be whole again. And, really, for the first time all season.