The Los Angeles Lakers released their official medical update on LeBron James on Wednesday, saying that he will miss the next two games but that he will resume practice with the team next week “and progress towards a return to game play thereafter.”
That last bit of information is new, but James’ agent Rich Paul had already announced news that James wouldn’t be traveling with the Lakers on their upcoming road trip on Tuesday. That’s not all he said either.
In an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Paul said that James isn’t going to return until he is 100 percent healthy, regardless of how long that might take.
The most interesting thing about these comments from Paul is the fact that he gave a definitive timeline, specifically that six-week timeline.
Since James suffered his groin injury on Christmas Day, the Lakers have been hesitant to put a specific timeline on his return. So far, his updates have been limited to weekly announcements about his status and when he’ll be reevaluated next.
The fact that the most thorough updates on James are coming straight from his agent and not the team is unorthodox, but not entirely surprising given how tight James and Paul are, and how much power they wield over not just the Lakers, but the league. It is worth questioning how the organization feels about losing control of this narrative, though.
Regardless of where the information is coming from, it doesn’t sound like James is going to rush back, no matter how much he’d like to be on the floor helping his team win.
In the 11 games the Lakers have played without James, they’re 4-7. With their upcoming slate of games, it’s not going to be easy for them to get past that four-win mark.
However, it’s easier to make up a few games in January than it is to make up a dozen games in March or April. While it might not be the route most fans would like to see, taking things slow with James is the right move to ensure he doesn’t miss more time or do long-term damage.
Let’s just hope that his timeline is closer to three weeks than six weeks, or things could get a lot worse for the Lakers before they get better for LeBron.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.