LeBron James Injury Update: When Might The Lakers’ Star Return From Ankle Sprain?

The Los Angeles Lakers will now be without both of their superstars for the foreseeable future. LeBron James joined Anthony Davis on the bench after leaving Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks with a high ankle sprain.

The injury will keep James out indefinitely. The Lakers haven’t given a timetable for James’ return or a target date for when the superstar forward might be ready to play again.

The playoffs start May 22, two months after James got hurt.

Will the 36-year-old will be back in time for the postseason?

A high ankle sprain has forced NBA players over the last seven 82-game seasons to miss an average of 10 games, according to injury analyst Jeff Stotts. A report on nba.com states that high ankle sprains usually take anywhere from six weeks to three months to heal.

A 10-game absence would put James on track to return April 12 against the New York Knicks. Given the condensed nature of this season’s 72-game schedule, it’s probably unlikely that James comes back in time for that contest.

If James misses exactly six weeks, he could be back for the May 2 games against the Toronto Raptors. That would leave him with the opportunity to play nine more games before the playoffs.

Without both James and Davis, the Lakers are no sure thing to comfortably make the playoffs. Only the top six seeds in each conference are guaranteed a postseason berth. Teams seeded No. 7-10 will compete in a short play-in tournament from May 18-21.

The Phoenix Suns beat the Lakers 111-94 Sunday in James’ first game away from the team, dropping Los Angeles to 28-15. The Lakers are the No. 3 seed in the West with a four-game lead over the No. 7 seed San Antonio Spurs. The No. 8 seed Dallas Mavericks are only four games in the loss column behind L.A.

James missed a career-high 17 straight games over nearly five weeks in the 2018-19 season because of a groin injury. It marked the only time he ever missed more than 13 games in an entire season.

"We're encouraging him to take a mental break and recharge a little bit mentally, so that when he comes back we're into a stretch where we can make a playoff push and make some noise, obviously, going into the playoffs," Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said of James Sunday, via ESPN.com.

Before getting hurt, James only sat one game this year. He was the leading MVP candidate with averages of 25.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game.

Davis is expected to miss at least a few more weeks with a calf and Achilles injury. The big man has only played 23 games this season.

The Lakers have been very cautious with Davis, looking to make sure he is at full strength for the playoffs.