LeBron James missed 20 straight games earlier this season due to a high ankle sprain. After briefly returning to action last week, he ended up playing in two-ish outings before seemingly re-injuring himself yet again.
He has been out ever since.
Earlier this week, an unfortunate update came out regarding James’ expected return time.
On Thursday night, however, things got a little weird.
In a session with the media, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel offered a bizarre comment on James’ ongoing leave from the team.
“Vogel said that LeBron’s absence from the Lakers’ last two games against Denver and LAC was not medically related,” reported Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“When asked for the reason James was not present, Vogel said, ‘He’s just not here.’ Added that James was at shootaround Thursday but will not join team in POR.”
Naturally, that comment raised some eyebrows. A short while later, McMenamin offered a follow up.
“LeBron James’ absences from the Nuggets and Clippers games were considered excused by the Lakers to allow James time to ‘stay off the ankle,’ a source with knowledge of the situation tells ESPN,” he added.
Obviously the second report ended up serving as clean-up for the first, but many fans are still dubious regarding what all this means.
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 7, 2021
Is James really hurt or not?
It has been that sort of year for the Lakers star. Just this past week James got some bad news regarding his return from injury. Before that he survived a terrifying threat from a crazed fan. Before that he was involved in some pretty controversial on-the-court plays. And that’s to say nothing of the backlash he received over one specific tweet.
Will whatever dark cloud has been following James around as of late dissipate in time for the playoffs? Time will tell.
Related: Truth About Relationship Between LaMelo Ball And Michael Jordan
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
