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Lakers’ LeBron James is ‘day-to-day’ with ankle injury

February 23, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO — It doesn’t appear as if the left ankle ailment that kept LeBron James sidelined for Thursday night’s road game against the Golden State Warriors should keep him out for an extended period.

Coach Darvin Ham said before the game that James is “day-to-day” with the left ankle peroneal tendinopathy that he received treatment for during the All-Star break, the second consecutive regular-season game James has missed with the injury dating to the Feb. 14 road win against the Utah Jazz.

James has missed three of the last eight games because of the ankle issue.

Ham said they’ll figure out James’ status for Friday’s home game against the San Antonio Spurs, the second night of a back-to-back set, on Friday morning.

“We got a bunch of guys that’s active that have been playing at a high level, went into the break playing at a high level,” Ham said. “And I expect that to continue, but just again, playing the right way, competing every possession, and then covering for one another and being connected.”

James had an excused absence for Wednesday morning’s practice in El Segundo and met the team in San Francisco on Thursday. During his media availability on Sunday after the All-Star Game, James mentioned that the ankle injury could keep him sidelined for Thursday.

James, who was named an All-Star for a record-breaking 20th time, only played in the first half of the Western Conference’s 211-186 loss to the Eastern Conference on Sunday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“I’m feeling OK,” James said. “I wasn’t going to put too much pressure on the game [Sunday] for me physically. I want to try to be as healthy as I can be physically. This last part of the season is very important for us. I got to make sure of that.”

Second-year guard Max Christie was back in the lineup after missing the previous three games before the break because of a sprained right ankle he suffered in a Feb. 8 home loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Forward Cam Reddish missed his 12th consecutive game because of the sprained right ankle he suffered in a Jan. 23 loss to the Clippers.

“He did a little extensive workout [Thursday] morning,” Ham said. “And so we’ll see how he’s feeling [Friday] morning.”

Guard Gabe Vincent (recovering from knee surgery) and forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot sprain) remain out, with Ham saying things were “status quo” for those two.

Forward Christian Wood will be sidelined for at least the next two weeks because of left knee effusion. Wood is averaging 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game and gives the team a big player who can stretch the floor.

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“The Utah game, just played his normal minutes,” Ham said. “But in the process of that, sometimes you see little subtle things that end up being bigger things. And he experienced some swelling. And so we are where we are with it.”

With the Lakers without several wings/frontcourt options, Ham deployed several smaller lineups featuring three guards against the Warriors.

“A consistent rotation is based on the health of your players,” Ham said. “And so what it does, it forces you to get right to the point, keep the main thing the main thing, be efficient as possible, be creative with getting what you need out of a particular work day, whether be it a game day or non-game day.

“You just have to be creative. I have a staff full of highly intelligent coaches. And along with the support of the front office and ownership, we just go about our business and again try to extract the most positive productivity out of each and every day.”

Orange County Register

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Lakers’ LeBron James is ‘day-to-day’ with ankle injury

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