Latest Lakers injury report sparks an uncomfortable conversation
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers take on the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night riding a three-game winning streak. A win over the Suns would be massive for the Lakers, who have seemingly turned a corner this season. If they can get the job done then optimism is going to be pumped into the fanbase.
Phoenix is a bit easier of an opponent than they typically are for this matchup as they are going to be without future Hall of Fame point guard, Chris Paul. This will be the seventh game that CP3 misses with the Suns owning a 3-3 record in the games he did not play.
Paul is not the only future Hall of Famer that won’t suit up in this game. LeBron James has officially been ruled out with a left adductor strain. This is the fifth game in a row that LeBron is going to miss. Los Angeles is 3-1 without him during that stretch.
Lakers injury report sparks uncomfortable conversation about LeBron James.
The Los Angeles Lakers paid up and gave LeBron a massive two-year contract extension this summer that is going to pay him $50 million in the 2024-25 season. While it is hard to not sign one of the greatest players of all time, the Lakers knew the risks of signing a 38-year-old to this kind of contract.
LeBron simply has not been able to hold up over the last three seasons as Father Time has caught up to him. While LeBron does not need to play 75 games in order to be effective, it is hard to trust in him being healthy when it matters most when he is already dealing with lingering injury after lingering injury.
Plus, before the Lakers at least had LeBron’s all-world talent to fall back on. That may no longer be the case. LeBron is having a poor season (for his standards) and with the Lakers winning without him, it raises the question of if the team is better off without him.
Of course, the Lakers are not winning a championship without LeBron playing a big role but it has already become clear this season that he has to adjust how he plays and his place on this team. LeBron is no longer the best player on this team and the longer that he plays like he is, the more the Lakers will lose.
If the Lakers are able to beat a really talented Suns team without LeBron James then it is going to be really hard to justify him coming back and chucking up seven threes per game only to shoot 24%.
The level of opponents has gone down but this has been a more cohesive and fluid basketball team without James. If that trend continues against a good opponent then it is going to create an uncomfortable situation for head coach Darvin Ham.
But at the end of the day, it is Ham’s job to do whatever it takes for the Lakers to win.