Brutal LeBron Injury Update Spells Major Fallout For Lakers

The public already knew LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers would miss the team’s season opener due to sciatica, but the latest update on his recovery pushes his timeline for return back even further.

After previously reporting James would miss three to four weeks as he recovers from sciatica, Shams Charania of ESPN gave another update on the Lakers’ star’s return, which doesn’t bode well for the team with title aspirations this season.

“The Lakers and LeBron are looking at around mid-November as a realistic debut for him,” Charania said on NBA Countdown before the Lakers-Dallas Mavericks preseason matchup. “A source told me tonight, LeBron will be taking a patient approach with his rehab.”

James continuing to be sidelined means only one thing for the Lakers. Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Deandre Ayton, and others will have to pick up the slack for one of the most impactful players in NBA history.While James hasn’t been performing at the same level he did about a decade ago, replacing his minutes in the lineup will be a major challenge for head coach JJ Redick.

LeBron Injury Puts Question Marks On Lakers

When the news originally broke on October 9th, the Lakers said James’ injury could cause him to miss three to four weeks. However, with Charania’s latest report, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is now expected to miss at least five weeks.While injuries linger and recoveries haveroadblocks, the latest news means, at best, James will miss at least 12 games for the Lakers to start the season.

All of that being said, James’ prolonged absence could mean bad news for Los Angeles. In a recent article by Bleacher Report highlighting the major flaws of each NBA team this season, James’ injury was cited as a major concern. “In a Nutshell: LeBron James needs custom-made bench cushions for his sciatica,” Dave Favale wrote, before then saying James’s uncertain future remains another looming issue for the Lakers. “President of basketball operations Rob Pelinka went from declaring the Los Angeles Lakers the custodians of LeBron James’ legacy to saying, essentially, ‘Yeah, it’d be pretty cool if he retired here.'”

After James’ agent, Rich Paul, gave ominous comments to Charania after his client picked up his player option with the Lakers, the relationship between the star and the team hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. While it is yet to be determined as to how the LeBron James-Lakers relationship either ends or continues, him missing games isn’t what the team wants now.

Redick Needs A Replacement, Options Are Dwindling

When previously asked about how James’ injury impacts the team, Redick said he was mainly focused on filling the hole in the starting lineup. Los Angeles has multiple candidates, but as the preseason goes on, the numbers are dwindling.

Most recently, Jarred Vanderbilt was ruled out of the team’s preseason game against the Mavericks after suffering a quad contusion. Vanderbilt, a known defensive specialist, was on the short list of players set to start for the Lakers at the forward position. Now, with him likely out for the start of the season, Redick will likely have to choose from Jake LaRavia, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, Marcus Smart, or Rui Hachimura, if he isn’t getting the start already.Many of those players sat out for rest in the team’s loss to Dallas, but with just one preseason game left, Redick doesn’t have a lot of time to decide on an opening night lineup. While that remains a question, Doncic, luckily, has not been a player Redick has had to worry about. Though only suiting up for one preseason game so far, the Slovenian star scored 25 points in 22 minutes, looking already in mid-season form.With James out, now for a longer stretch, Doncic will take nearly sole responsibility of the offense, along with some help from Reaves and others, but similar to that of his time in Dallas before Kyrie Irving arrived.

Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski

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