2 min read • January 29, 2022
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The Lakers ruled LeBron James out for Sunday's game in Atlanta, his 3rd consecutive missed game as he deals with left knee soreness.
Our team of ProBasketballDocs expect James to return soon, albeit with a truncated workload to load manage the 37-year-old's potentially arthritic left knee.
The latest injury reports from Los Angeles note that James is suffering from effusion in addition to the soreness.
Effusion represents swelling caused by fluid in the knee, meaning there is something more significant going, but begs the question of what is causing the leaking fluid?
Much like our eyes, which water when they are bothered by smoke, dust, or a scratch, our knees react the same way, swelling up from an irritation.
Because there is no discernible source of trauma that would cause structural damage – and if there was, the Lakers and the Klutch camp would be deliberate with the release of that information – we infer that the knee issue is stemming from overwork causing wear-and-tear for the 19th-year future HOFer.
We also suspect a component of early arthritis (insert old jokes here). All of this point to a much more focused and load-managed final half of the season for James and the Lakers, who are 24-26, holding the 9th spot in the West as they head into a contentious final 32 games.
James has spent much of the last month playing center in the absence of Anthony Davis, and scored 25-or-more points in each of the last 18 games.
Since serving a 1-game suspension on Nov. 23 for punching Isaiah Stewart in the face , James is averaging 30.9 points with 8.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists while forcing 2.8 turnovers in 37.1 minutes per game.
The Lakers face the surging Hawks without James on Sunday before playing the Blazers and Clippers. They will then depart on a 10-game run featuring Crypto.com Arena contests with the Knicks, Bucks, Mavs and Jazz, and home-and-homes with the Warriors and Clippers.
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