The Lakers’ midseason resurgence injected new life into the NBA season, with TV viewership and fan engagement seeing considerable upticks in current weeks.
That is why LeBron James’ groin harm, which is anticipated to maintain the 40-year-old out for multiple weeks, comes on the worst potential time for the league. With out James, the Lakers are unlikely to resemble the workforce that owns the third-best record (22-8) in 2025 — a extreme blow to the storylines shaping the season’s remaining month.
The Lakers are slated to play four nationally televised games over the following 9 days, together with two contests apiece in opposition to the Nuggets and Bucks. The video games in opposition to Denver are notably vital for the reason that two groups are locked in a good battle for the second seed within the West. Suffice it to say that curiosity in these video games has waned because of James’ harm.
It is typically mentioned the NBA is in a more healthy place when the Lakers are related, which they have been this season as a .645 workforce. Nonetheless, Los Angeles might realistically fall to the sixth seed whereas ready for James to return. The second-seeded Lakers (40-22) personal only a five-game lead over the sixth-seeded Warriors (36-28) and seventh-seeded Timberwolves (37-29), each of whom have a much easier strength of schedule the remainder of the way in which.
If JJ Redick’s males aren’t cautious, they may lose lots of floor within the standings, which might be dangerous information for the NBA’s key stakeholders. The concept of the Lakers getting into the play-in event and presumably lacking the playoffs will likely be a devastating blow to the league.
It is not simply the Lakers who want James again as quickly as potential. The NBA and its tv companions higher hope his groin harm is not as extreme because the one in 2018-19, which stored him out for 17 video games. The Lakers have solely 20 video games left, and every one counts.
