Lakers' LeBron James Tweets on April Fools' Day That He's out for Season with Injury
April 1, 2022
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James left fans to decipher a tweet he posted on April Fools' Day.
In the tweet, James wrote that he is "out for the season officially" and will be back in the fall:
The 37-year-old veteran has dealt with injuries throughout the season, including sitting out the team's past two games against the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz with an ankle ailment.
With Anthony Davis also on the shelf, the Lakers lost both of those games by double digits.
LeBron also missed a stretch of eight consecutive games in November because of an abdominal injury.
When healthy and playing, the 18-time All-Star has been his usual dominant self this season, averaging a league-leading 30.1 points per game to go along with 8.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.9 three-pointers made, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks in 55 contests.
With James missing pockets of games and AD missing much of the season, however, the Lakers have performed well below expectations.
After winning an NBA championship two seasons ago and reaching the playoffs last season, the Lakers' 2021-22 campaign is on the brink.
At 31-45, the Lakers are tied with the San Antonio Spurs for 10th place in the Western Conference, although the Spurs hold the tiebreaker.
If the standings remain the way they are, the Lakers would miss out on a spot in the postseason play-in tournament, meaning they wouldn't even have an opportunity to make the playoffs.
The Lakers desperately need a healthy and productive James in order to have a chance to play postseason basketball, and there is little doubt that Friday's tweet has some Lakers fans questioning if he will be available down the stretch.