The Los Angeles Lakers are looking at a Friday night matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.
On the initial injury report, the Lakers considered LeBron James to be questionable to play in the matchup. He had multiple reasons for being on the injury report.
James recently missed action due to foot arthritis and his right sciatica issue. It was an absence that didn't come as a surprise, considering his comments from two games ago.
Following a road victory against the New Orleans Pelicans, James addressed reporters and got incredibly honest on his status for the following matchup, which took place on the very next night.
The superstar forward noted that playing in back-to-back sets is far from a guarantee. While he doesn't plan to rule out every back-to-back, he's likely to be questionable for at least one of them each time.
After playing in 33 minutes against the Pelicans, James got the night off against the San Antonio Spurs. Without him, the Lakers couldn't take care of business. They ended up collecting a 107-91 loss.
Will LeBron James Return on Friday?
After upgrading LeBron from questionable to probable on Friday afternoon, his final playing status has been decided. The Lakers will roll out the star forward once again as he’s been cleared to play.
This year, LeBron missed a chunk of time as the Lakers kicked the season off. When he returned on November 18, the star forward checked in for 29 minutes, which was seen as a slight playing time restriction.
Since then, LeBron has averaged over 30 minutes on the court, missing just three games.
This year, James has appeared in 18 games. He's knocked down 51 percent of his shots from the field, producing 21.7 points per game.
Along with his scoring, LeBron has come down with 5.4 rebounds per game, and is dishing out 6.8 assists per game.
When on the court, the Lakers are 12-6.
Despite the Lakers holding the Western Conference's fifth-best record of 23-12, they understand they still have a lot to improve on in order to earn the championship contender status in their conference.
The Lakers are looking to bounce back on Friday, when they take on the Bucks at home. The game tips at 10:30 PM ET.
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