LeBron James‘ first season with the Lakers will end early, the team announced in a press release. With a playoff bid out of reach, the organization has decided to shut down James down for the rest of the season.
“After consulting with our team doctors and medical staff, we have decided to hold LeBron out of games for the remainder of the season,” the team said in a statement released by president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka. “This decision will allow his groin to fully heal, and is best for the future success of both LeBron and the Lakers.” (Twitter link)
The Lakers have just six games to go and are mired in 11th place in the West, so the decision not to play LeBron won’t have much effect on the standings. He will continue to travel with the team as a sign of support.
James appeared in just 55 games, missing significant time after injuring his groin in a Christmas Day game. His numbers remain outstanding — 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists per night — but his durability is becoming a question after playing 82 games and leading the league in minutes last year.
L.A. had a 28-27 record in games that James played, including victories in the last three, tweets ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The team was in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race before his injury, but dropped off quickly once he was out of the lineup.
James still has two years left on his current contract at $37.4MM and $39.2MM, plus a $41MM player option for 2021/22.
Why not? They are playing for absolutely nothing, and he didn’t look like himself after the groin injury.
Why not?
Did LeBron just quit on the team? Ping pong balls.
GOAT, my ass
Thumb down.
It’s the right thing to do. Play the young guys. It’s only six games. His numbers were outstanding again of course. I’m not a LeBron fan, I’m a Warriors fan but he’s still unbelievable.
Agreed, as much as I rag on queen Jamie, this is the smart and right call. Now we see if the league fines the Lakers for sitting a superstar. Fans of other teams bought those tickets to see lebron…
Does anyone remember when Michael Jordan took off because his team stunk? Yeah me either. This is why LeBron isn’t the GOAT!!
Ummm… He took 2 years off to play baseball. Granted there were rumors of a pending suspension for gambling, though…
I don’t think that was related to team performance
He did that cuz his dad got murdered and they had always loved baseball.
A David Stern cover-up to protect Jordan’s reputation. He was suspended. Everyone knows that.
True…. but everybody doesn’t know it lol
They’re also trying to tank at this point and he makes them competitive.
Looking at the Lakers injury since he came back…. Ummm no. They Lakers still stink. So it wouldn’t matter if he plays or not. The last 6 games will prove nothing for anyone. No one outside of Laker land will even notice or care. You could play cheerleaders out there and no one would notice or care.
retire and go home!
He did.
Magic: Lyin’ for Zion.
Great, now I’m stuck with tickets when the Lakers come to town and LBJ isn’t playing.
When the going gets tough, the GOAT goes home. You play the games that don’t count as hard as playoff games to teach the young players something and to honor the fans that are putting up their money to see the team.
Johnson & Pelinka made the call. You could call them liars if you want, mixing sincerity with sarcasm as cover.