The Los Angeles Lakers conclude their 2023-24 NBA regular season with a road finale Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans Pelicans. There's quite a bit on the line for both teams, but both of the Lakers' top players are listed on the injury report, so are LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing today?
The Lakers stand one win away from locking in the eighth seed in the Western Conference but also one loss away from potentially falling to 10th. With LeBron and Davis both being on the injury report, though, there may be concern among Lakers Nation that their team's two best players could miss a crucial game.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis injury status vs. Pelicans
Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are listed on the NBA injury report as being “probable” for the Lakers' Sunday season finale vs. the Pelicans. LeBron, as has been the case for some time now, has the designation of “Injury/Illness – Left Ankle; Peroneal Tendinopathy,” while Davis has the designation of “Injury/Illness – Left Eye; Contusion.”
LeBron, who played through a severe foot injury to end last season, has dealt with peroneal tendinopathy in his left ankle since December. The injury designation first appeared right before Christmas, and while it has something that he and the Lakers medical staff have monitored this season, LeBron has not missed many games at all in 2024.
If LeBron indeed plays on Sunday in New Orleans, he will have appeared in 71 games, his most in any season since 2017-18, his final season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has already played the most minutes in a season since signing with the Lakers, logging nearly 2,500 this year while averaging 25.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 8.2 assists while shooting 54.0% from the field and a career-high 41.3% from three.
The ankle injury isn't a non-issue, though. LeBron has sat out at least one game every few weeks presumably to rest his ankle, with his last absence being on April 7 in a Lakers home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Major seeding implications are at stake in New Orleans, however, and it would be shocking if LeBron sat out against the Pelicans.
As for Davis, who had developed an unfortunate reputation for being injury-prone, has powered through multiple bumps, bruises, scrapes, and other injuries to play in 75 games this season. If he suits up against the Pelicans, he will have officially played the most games of any season in his career. He twice played a career-high 75 games in 2016-17 and 2017-18 while a member of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Since then, however, AD has largely struggled to stay on the court for an extended period of time. Before this year, he played in more than 60 games in a season only once (the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season in which Davis played 62 games). Despite his injury woes, Davis has remained one of the best all-around players in the NBA for several years and figures to be named to an NBA All-Defense team and possible All-NBA team this season, during which he has averaged 24.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.4 blocks while shooting 55.3% from the field.
Davis, who took a blow to the face against the Timberwolves and missed a game due to an eye contusion, played against the Memphis Grizzlies and likely will do the same against the Pelicans.
So to wrap up and answer the question of if LeBron James and Anthony Davis are playing today vs. the Pelicans, the answer is almost certainly.
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