The NBA season has just one month left in the regular season, and there’s still plenty to be figured out.The team that’s generating the most buzz right now is the Los Angeles Lakers, thanks to a high-profile trade involving Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis.
The duo of LeBron James and Dončić has been one of the best pairings in the league since they first played together. At one point, they led the Lakers to the second seed in the West, but a recent string of losses has dropped them to fourth place in the conference. The main reason for this slump is the injury to James, which he sustained last Saturday night in Boston. James is in his first year of his $101.35 million two-year contract.
The last time James had a groin injury was on Christmas Day in 2019, which caused him to miss 17 consecutive games. James compared his current injury to that one, offering some optimism.
“No, it’s not as bad as that. It’s not as bad as that,” James said.
This comment was made immediately after his injury, and since then, it has been announced that James is expected to miss one to two weeks. However, former Auburn Tiger and NBA analyst Charles Barkley believes James may be out for the rest of the regular season.
“LeBron is probably out for the rest of the season. He wasn’t going to play anyway… He stayed in New York because it was New York. He didn’t want to go to Milwaukee because it’s Milwaukee. That’s why he flew back home,” Barkley said on NBA on TNT.
This statement seems extreme, considering James’s diagnosis was only for a couple of weeks at most. Regardless, the Lakers desperately need their superstar back as soon as possible. For now, they can lean on Dončić, but the team is a completely different unit when both of them are on the court together.
