Before last week’s All-Star Game, LeBron James talked about making a determined push for the playoffs. He specifically noted his intent to be available for every single one of the Lakers’ remaining matches in the regular season; “It’s 23 of the most important games of my career … It’s the type of mindset that I have and I hope the guys will have coming back off the break.” Needless to say, he was trying to get across the message that nothing should be left in the tank for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign. Losing, he argued, “is not in my DNA,” which was why he figured on ensuring that he would not take an early vacation for the second straight year.
While laudable, James’ objective is easier said than met. It’s not just that he’s already 38 and in his 20th year of hoops. It’s that he exhibits a playing style that pushes his body to the limit. Which was why he had already missed 14 of 59 contests when he made his declaration, and why it was effectively an exercise in wishful thinking to expect him to burn rubber every single time out. Heck, he even got injured during the All-Star Game, a spectacle in which defense is deemed optional and marquee names often act as if they’re just sipping coffee by the bay.
True enough, two outings into the second half of the season, James once again finds himself sidelined due to a noncontact injury to his right foot late in the third quarter of the Lakers’ set-to against the Mavericks the other day. On-court cameras caught him as saying he “heard a pop” after he fell to the floor at the American Airlines Center, although he continued to play and contribute to the comeback against the hosts. It now appears that he will be missing several matches while medical experts determine the extent of his injury.
How the Lakers will survive the stretch without James is a big question mark. True, they’re now deeper and better equipped to compete in the absence of their acknowledged leader following their trade-deadline moves. And, true, they still have Anthony Davis to lean on, especially in the crunch. Then again, if there’s anything the four-time Most Valuable Player awardee’s on-off splits have underscored, it’s the degree of their reliance on him in just about every aspect of their system. Which is why they’d like him back soonest, and why, as close as they are now to a play-in spot after three consecutive victories, they remain so near, and yet so far.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
