KEY POINTS
- LeBron James' latest injury has been a subject of scrutiny
- An American basketball veteran feels James is saving himself for the NBA playoff grind
- He adds the Lakers have more than enough talent to make it to the postseason
LeBron James continues to sit out games for the Los Angeles Lakers with a reported abdominal strain.
However, the severity of the injury has been a subject of debate by sports pundits, considering that Frank Vogel and company could use the four-time champion's help right now.
In a recent update from ESPNâs Brian Windhorst, the 36-year-oldâs injury is allegedly not severe and that âThe Kingâsâ rehab is going well when he appeared on âThis Just Inâ last Wednesday, November 10.
This comes not long after different takes were given on when the four-time NBA champion could return to the basketball court.
Initially, it was announced that James would miss about a week.
However, conditioning coach Tim DiFrancesco gave a different assessment, claiming that the 17-time All-Star could be out between four to eight weeks as reported in a previous post.
The real status of James remains unknown. But given that he is set to turn 37 in December, injuries are to be expected especially if he wills himself to play this early in the season.
For American player Akeem Scott, who has had general success playing in the ASEAN Basketball League, he believes that James is just handling himself smartly, aware that the bigger battles will be in April.
Scott shared his take on James' predicament in an interview on the Sports for All PH podcast hosted by Filipino journalists Vincent Juico and Brian Yalung.
âI think that when he plays that many years, you donât really care about the regular season, you just want to play in the playoffs. Their team is good enough for him to sit out and still make it to the playoffs. I donât really think he has any injury. He may have some tweaks here and there and probably sit out some games,â Scott stated.
The 38-year-old believes that the Lakers roster is good enough to carry the team into the NBA postseason.
âI think like for the NBA, if your team is good enough, you are just really waiting until April. And LeBron has won enough championships and does not care what seed he is in [for] as long as they make the playoffs, they are still the team to beat,â Scott explained.
âSo for me, I donât think LeBron has many injuries. I think this is his way of load management."
