LeBron James Status Finalized vs Milwaukee

Is LeBron James ducking the Milwaukee Bucks? That might be the narrative that some folks will ascribe to this scheduling quirk, by which the 6-foot-9 superstar Los Angeles Lakers forward will have missed both of his team’s two regular season games against the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed this season.

Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, James was just downloaded from being doubtful to play tonight to officially being ruled out. The injury is the same one that has been pestering him for months, a left ankle peroneal tendinopathy:

James also sat out the last time LA faced off against the new-look Bucks, who’ve added Damian Lillard and subtracted Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen since the last time James played them. During the Lakers’ most recent, James-free encounter with Milwaukee two weeks ago, Los Angeles point guard D’Angelo Russell took over, helping guide Los Angeles to a 123-122 last-second home victory against a better team. Russell scored 44 points in the effort, including the go-ahead, game-clinching bucket, a floater with 5.9 seconds remaining.

James will be missed tonight. The 20-time All-Star, 39, has generally been more healthy this season than he had been in any of the last three prior seasons. In 62 games, he’s averaging 25.4 points on .530/.406/.751 shooting splits, 8.1 dimes, 7.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.6 blocks.

Every game is critical for the Lakers down the home stretch of the 2023-24 season, while the Bucks theoretically have a bit more wiggle room. Nothing is guaranteed for LA, currently the ninth seed with a 39-32 record. At the bottom of the Western Conference’s play-in tournament bracket, the Lakers are 2.5 contests above the 36-34 Golden State Warriors (the West’s No. 10 seed), and three games ahead of the No. 11-seeded Houston Rockets (36-35, winners of nine straight).

The Lakers are also just three games behind the sixth-seeded Sacramento Kings and seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks, who are both 42-29 on the year. Obviously for a team fielding not one but two 30+ year-old All-Stars, any additional rest would be ideal. If Los Angeles can avoid the play-in tournament entirely, the team might be all the better for it. There’s a chance that, yes, with a few more dropped games, the Lakers could miss the postseason entirely, for just the second time since the team acquired LeBron James.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, is locked into a postseason appearance. Currently the East’s No. 2 seed with a 46-25 record, the Bucks may trail the mighty 57-15 Boston Celtics by 10.5 games, but they’ve also created a bit of separation between themselves and the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks. The Bucks are 2.5 and three games ahead of those two clubs, respectively.

The club can afford to lose this home bout. But Milwaukee has gone 29-7 at the Fiserv Forum this year, and is healthier than the Lakers, who will also be missing key reserve Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood. That’s why the Bucks are -9.5 point favorites to win tonight, per The Action Network. The fun tips off at 4:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.