UPDATE: The Lakers made it official, ruling LeBron James out against the Spurs due to right sciatica and left foot joint arthritis.
LeBron has now missed 17 games this season. If he misses one more, he will be officially ineligible for any end-of-season NBA awards.
While the Lakers will be playing San Antonio without LeBron, Gabe Vincent has returned to the lineup.
However, don’t expect Vincent to play his usual amount in his first game back. Lakers head coach JJ Redick has stated that Vincent will be limited to about 18 minutes against San Antonio.
LA is currently on a three-game winning streak and undefeated in the new year. If they are able to beat the Spurs on Wednesday without LeBron, they’ll move past San Antonio in the standings and will be the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Original story follows.
In a move that shouldn’t shock any Lakers fans, LeBron James is on the injury report for Los Angeles’ second game of this back-to-back road trip.
The Lakers are set to play the Spurs after beating the Pelicans the night before, and LeBron is listed as questionable to play due to his sciatica injury, some left foot joint arthritis and the fact that it’s a back-to-back and he’s the oldest player in the NBA.
LeBron was asked after the Pelicans game about the likelihood of him playing for the matchup with the Spurs, and he made it clear that, since he’s 41, his status for every back-to-back moving forward will be to be determined.
Since this is more about the Lakers playing consecutive games and not a new injury for LeBron, Lakers fans don’t need to worry about his potential absence.
He is the oldest player in the NBA, and his body needs to be monitored.
The last time the Lakers had a back-to-back, LeBron missed the second contest, which was against the Celtics. So, while he is currently listed as questionable and his status is uncertain, don’t be surprised if he does, in fact, miss this match.
With the league requiring a 65-game minimum for NBA awards, and LeBron already missing 16 games, he could no longer miss any more games after this Spurs contest if he cared about maintaining something like his All-NBA streak.
While LeBron missing out on accolades simply because of attendance is a bummer, given how much he cares about playing at the highest level and making the most of whatever time he has left, it’s unlikely he cares all that much about individual awards at this point in his career.
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The good news on the injury front is that Gabe Vincent appears to be ready to go. He’s missed the last nine games due to lumbar back strain, but is now available to play. The Lakers thought he could make his return during this road trip and it seems that he will do just that.
So, the Lakers will have a rotation player back, and everyone else who played in New Orleans will be ready, with James perhaps even playing if he gets upgraded to available.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
