Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James suffered a high ankle sprain in the team’s showdown against the Atlanta Hawks this past Saturday.
The injury looked particularly brutal, and various camera angles of it have led many to wonder whether Solomon Hill deserves a suspension of some sort.
Given that high ankle sprains typically come with a fairly lengthy recovery time, the implications of this injury for the Lakers are significant.
On Monday, the defending champs got some bad news regarding James.
According to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania, James will be out ‘several’ weeks. This aligns with an observation by Dr. Jesse Morse, who pointed out this past weekend that due to how much more serious high ankle sprains are as compared to lateral ankle sprains, James would need at least three weeks to recover.
@thefantasydoctorsLeBron James has been confirmed to have suffered a high ankle sprain. What does this mean for the #Lakers who are already without Anthony Davis?♬ original sound – The Fantasy Doctors
As noted by Dr. Morse, when New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara and Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey suffered similar ailments, it took them three to six weeks to return.
This is particularly rough for LA, given that given that only 2.5 games separate third place and sixth place in the Western Conference at the moment.
Now that Paige VanZant is done with the UFC, she can focus on the important things. https://t.co/5YLwWtLaGf
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 22, 2021
Further complicating matters for the Lakers is that the organization just received bad news regarding Anthony Davis’ recovery. When it rains, it pours.
James was the frontrunner to win a league MVP award this year, averaging 25.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.9 assists per outing.
Will the Lakers be able to find a way to replace some of that production with him gone? Time will tell.
Related: Crazy Reason Lakers Drafted Lonzo Ball Revealed
