Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James will not play Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks because of a sore left ankle, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
The 39-year-old James appeared in fewer than 60 games in each of the past few seasons, but he has largely remained healthy this season, missing time primarily due to rest or maintenance.
LeBron’s ankle has been a bit of an issue in recent weeks, as he exited the Lakers’ 130-120 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday in the fourth quarter because of it.
Per McMenamin, James said he had been dealing with the ankle ailment since before the All-Star break before adding that he would be “all right.”
Despite being the oldest player in the NBA, James continues to put up elite numbers that border on being MVP-caliber.
So far this season, the future Hall of Famer is averaging 25.3 points, 8.0 assists and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Competing in a stacked Western Conference, the Lakers have struggled to make much headway in the standings. They are currently in 10th place in the conference with a 34-30 record.
Simply getting in the playoffs in any capacity is the primary goal for the Lakers, though, as they went on a deep run to the Western Conference Finals last season despite having to go through the postseason play-in tournament.
To have playoff success and potentially vie for a championship, the Lakers will need both James and Anthony Davis as close to 100 percent healthy as possible.
When James is out, most of the burden will fall on Davis’ shoulders, but L.A. will also need more out of Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura, among others.
