LeBron James’ Estimated Lakers Return Date After Injury
LeBron James’ Estimated Lakers Return Date After Injury
LeBron James got hurt during the Los Angeles Lakers’ most recent victory against the Dallas Mavericks.
The injury occurred with about three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
James ended up playing through it, but limped noticeably after the outing.
Surely enough, less than 24 hours later, reports emerged that he would likely have to miss extended time.
James miraculously played through the injury that is now expected to require multiple opinions, sources said, and the Lakers are bracing for his absence to be multiple weeks. https://t.co/zuovQ2wVzc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 28, 2023
One person who quickly assessed the situation despite a lack of firsthand information was Dr. Evan Jeffries.
First he broke down the order of concerns regarding James’ ailment.
Concerns for LeBron’s foot injury go in this order
1. Lisfranc injury
2. Midfoot sprain
3. Plantar fascia tear— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) February 28, 2023
Then he offered a timeline on James’ potential return.
Timeline to return will be dependent on severity
Grade II: 3-6 weeks
Grade III: Months and surgery could be required— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) February 28, 2023
Based on the fact that James was able to finish that game against the Mavericks out, at least one personal trainer seems convinced that the issue is a midfoot sprain and not Lisfranc injury.
Midfoot sprain most likely. No way he’s finishing that game and limping out of there with a true Lisfranc. Not at his size. Plantar fascia tear with an audible pop would also be terribly painful and worsening significantly as he ran. If it’s 1 or 3 his pain tolerance is crazy
— Kelvin Carter (@kelvincarterDPT) February 28, 2023
How long would a return from that take?
“A grade II is 6-8 weeks for full recovery but potentially an early return if pain allows and LeBron is comfortable with it,” he wrote.
“Grade III is season ending. Based on the ‘pop’ there’s little chance it’s a grade I.”
So based on that, the estimated return date for James in a best case scenario seems to be 5-6 weeks which would have him come back right around the last week of the NBA season between April 2 and April 9. And that is in a best case scenario.
In a slightly worse case scenario he comes back for the play-in game or, if the Lakers can get that far, the playoffs.
Worst case scenario he is done for the year.
This has been a cursed season for James and L.A. First they had to deal with Russell Westbrook’s poor fit and all the drama that brought. Then when they finally rid themselves of that and bolstered the roster, this injury occurred.
The Lakers are obviously one of three teams in the hunt for John Wall at the moment, but it’s hard to see that making any sort of meaningful impact even if they do add him. James is the key piece of this puzzle, and without him everything falls apart.
Anthony Davis was quick to take a little jab at Westbrook following the NBA Trade Deadline, but with James out he probably would be better off having a second star to lean on in the interim.
NFL fans react to Erin Andrews’ wild vacation photos. https://t.co/UbhpLnssQb
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 28, 2023
Lakers fans have slowly gotten used to having their hearts broken.
And the trend continued this past week.
One way or another, further clarity on James’ injury and his estimated return date should come at some point in the next few days.
Related: Kyrie Irving Explains Bad Communication With Luka Doncic (Video)
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
