LeBron James has reportedly set a target date for his return to the lineup.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported on SportsCenter on Thursday that James is hoping to return April 5 against the Los Angeles Clippers and play in the Lakers’ final three games of the regular season:
“A league source familiar with LeBron James’ thinking told me that he believes LeBron will push for sometime over the final three games the Lakers play in Los Angeles—April 5 against the Clippers, April 7 against the Suns, April 9 against the Jazz—to target that range so long as there’s no setbacks in his rehab to make his comeback. Get back onto the court, get a little bit of a dress rehearsal before either the play-in tournament or a playoff berth for the Lakers.”
The Lakers later provided the following update:
Of note, James took to Twitter on Thursday to make it clear that he does not currently have a “target date” for his return:
James has been out of the lineup since he suffered a foot injury Feb. 26 against the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers have managed a respectable 7-5 record without the future Hall of Famer. They are 36-37 overall, good for 10th place in the Western Conference and a play-in tournament berth if the season ended today.
Only two of the Lakers’ remaining nine games are against teams above the .500 mark. While that is a good sign for their playoff hopes, matchups against the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves could determine whether the Lakers are safely in the playoffs, a play-in team or miss the postseason altogether.
James was averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game before the injury, putting together the single greatest season for a player age 38 or above in league history.
The Lakers may be playing scrappy on both ends of the floor without him, but their only chance of making any noise in the postseason comes with James on the floor.
