The Los Angeles Lakers will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night in Game 6. Los Angeles leads the series 3-2 and is kicking itself after failing to end the series in Game 5 in Memphis.
Coming off of a hard-fought overtime win in which LeBron James clutched up at the end, LeBron and his teammates were not as sharp in Game 5. There were promising moments for the Lakers but a massive third-quarter run by the Grizzlies sealed the deal.
LeBron himself was particularly disappointing. After such a promising performance in Game 4, LeBron scored 15 points with 10 rebounds on 5-17 shooting. LeBron took full responsibility, using an expletive to explain how he played on Wednesday night.
While it might be as simple as it being an off night for LeBron, Lakers fans have still wracked their brains together to come up with a potential reason for his struggles. Some Lakers fans think that LeBron may have caught a bug at the worst possible time and that is what is holding him back in this series.
"Is Lebron sick with a flu? by u/cellardoor05 in lakers"
Lakers fans think LeBron James might be sick during Grizzlies series.
The reasoning behind this theory is LeBron’s low energy at times during games and the way in which he has coughed both in the games and in post-game interviews. Where there is smoke there is fire and there is at least some smoke here.
Could LeBron be under the weather with a lingering bug? Sure, it certainly is possible. He is a human being after all and it is that time of year when people get sick. Are there other explanations for this? Absolutely.
LeBron is 38 years old and he was coming off of an overtime game in which he played 45 intense minutes. He simply is not going to be able to bounce-back and recover with just one day off like he could have 10 years ago. At some point, your body does start to age, even if you are LeBron James.
There could be something to LeBron having low energy but that also could just be his efforts to conserve his energy for when the team really needs it. That is exactly what he did in Game 4, turning the dial up all the way in the fourth quarter and overtime to win that game for the Lakers.
If LeBron does actually have an illness the hope is that it is getting out of his system and that he will feel better by Game 6 on Friday. The last thing this Lakers team needs is yet another hurdle to overcome this season.