The Los Angeles Lakers received the worst news they could get on Saturday, with LeBron James getting injured after a hard play with Solomon Hill. The purple and gold lost the game and their biggest figure and it’s fair to say the situation doesn’t look that favorable for them.
James could be out for at least 6 weeks in the best case, but his injury could get him out of the court for three months depending on the severity. This, added to the injury of Anthony Davis, doesn’t put the Lakers in a very good position. These two were the key players in their 2020 championship run and being without them for the last stretch of the season will affect the team.
Lakers star LeBron James will now be out indefinitely, sources said. https://t.co/ALE4YCqM0C
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 20, 2021
One Redditor called “MazKhan” did the research and found out that the remaining schedule for the Lakers will be a tough one. They will have to play 17 games against .500 or higher teams and now is the moment when they need to step up.
The Lakers will play 17 .500 or higher teams in their remaining 30 games. If Lebron and AD are out for a significant time, they might realistically drop to a play in seeding. The west just got wild.
3 of the non .500 teams are the Raptors (twice) and Celtics (once) who are both better than their record shows (IMO). They currently are 6 games above the 8th seed.
Their most immediate game is against the inspired Phoenix Suns and that’s the start of a very complex time for the Californians. They will have to face the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, and the Utah Jazz (twice) in the next month. The challenge is a lot bigger now and the Lakers need to step up against these rivals to demonstrate they are for real.
Of course, nobody expects them to win any of these games but they are the current champions and need to prove that. If they manage to survive this period, LeBron and AD will get a team with chances to compete in the postseason and once they both are back, the Lakers will be a menace.
Meanwhile, they need to try to win as many games as they can or the situation won’t be favorable for them.
