Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton hopes LeBron James is back before ASG
By Nick Ziegler
Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Luke Walton, is hopeful that LeBron James is back before the All-Star Break.
When the Los Angeles Lakers signed LeBron James, there was a lot of excitement and hope that surrounded the franchise. However, while LeBron was coming off a great season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, there was certainly a little concern about his age.
There have been a lot of minutes on the legs of James over his career. With his extended playoff runs nearly every year, James has played a ton of games in the NBA, and a lot of hard playoff minutes. Even though he has been able to avoid injuries by taking care of his body, father time catches up with everyone.
In his first season with the Lakers, James has now missed 15 straight games, and the team has been free-falling without him. The groin injury suffered by LeBron on Christmas Day is certainly the worst injury of his career, and it has kept him out for what seems like forever this season.
After losing their 10th game without James, Luke Walton talked about when James might be back. Here’s what Walton said via Matthew Moreno of LakersNation.com.
"“I would assume he’s back, I’m hopeful that he’s back (by the All-Star Game),” Walton said. “That’s a long way away. If he’s not ready by then, he’s still not ready. It’s just one of those things that we’ll see as it comes.”"
With the All-Star Break being less than a month away, the Lakers certainly hope that James is back by then. The good news on James is that he has returned to practice in a limited capacity. However, no timetable has been given on his return.
Without James, the Lakers hold a record a 5-10. Unfortunately in the Western Conference, this has resulted in the Lakers dropping way down in the standings. However, with a healthy James, that can certainly still make the playoffs, but they need him back soon.
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The response by Walton is pretty vague, but one has to assume that James will be back before the All-Star break. If he doesn’t return before then, the Lakers’ playoff hopes will likely be done. Hopefully, we see James’ return very soon.