Things are looking up for the Los Angeles Lakers. After climbing all the way to the second seed in the Western Conference, the Lake Show will almost assuredly be finishing with a top four record in the conference and obtaining home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. With Luka Doncic in the purple and gold, there is no telling just how far this team can go, but would anyone be surprised to see them in the NBA Finals once again?
The only downside for Lakers fans at the moment is the injury LeBron James sustained on Saturday night. In the fourth quarter of LA's loss to the Boston Celtics, James suffered a groin injury that kept him out the remainder of the contest. It was later reported that LeBron is expected to miss at least one or two weeks of time due to his injury. James himself expressed that there was "not much concern" from his point of view about the injury.
LeBron's streak of All-NBA appearances is in jeopardy
LeBron knows himself best, so this is likely to give Lakers fans optimism. However, this scenario wherein he is forced to miss time at the end of the regular season does put one particular streak in jeopardy: James' record of All-NBA teams made. He has been named to an All-NBA team every year since his sophomore season in 2004-05, and should he miss a significant amount more games, he could put this streak in question.
As of this writing, James has played in 58 games for the Lakers this season. To qualify for NBA season awards, he must finish the regular season with at least 65 games under his belt. What that means is that he must return to action for LA no later than Thursday, April 3 against the Golden State Warriors in order to still be in consideration for an All-NBA team.
Groin injuries can be tricky, and if not handled properly, can keep players out for a greater period than initially anticipated. With that said, if the timeline ends up being similar in reality to what it is currently projected to be, LeBron may be able to come back around the Saturday, March 22 game against the Chicago Bulls. If he can do that while remaining mostly healthy for the rest of the regular season, he will comfortably keep his historic streak of All-NBA appearances alive.
feed