Lakers Staffer: LeBron James Missing 10 Games Could Keep LA out of Playoffs

The Los Angeles Lakers have looked like a legitimate contender through the first few months of the season, but the latest injury to LeBron James could be damaging. 

The 33-year-old suffered a groin strain during Tuesday's win over the Golden State Warriors and is listed as day-to-day. Based on early season projections, this could be enough to sink the team's postseason hopes.

"Earlier this season, one team staffer suggested in a conversation with The Athletic that it might take nothing more than James missing 10 games with an injury to knock the Lakers out of the playoff picture," Bill Oram of The Athletic reported Wednesday.

James will at least miss Thursday's game against the Sacramento Kings, according to Mike Trudell of the team's official site.

It's unknown how much more time he will miss, but as Oram noted, Warriors guard Stephen Curry missed 11 games with his groin strain earlier this season.

While this could be a major blow to the Lakers' chances of making the playoffs for the first time since 2012-13, the team is already playing well sooner than expected. The team entered Wednesday fourth in the Western Conference with a 20-14 record after the blowout win against the Warriors came without James for most of the second half.

"This is uncharted territory, obviously with this group," head coach Luke Walton said of the latest injury. "But this is what we've been talking about. This is what we try to plan for, not that he gets hurt, but being able to play and win and compete when he's not on the floor."

The players are also confident they can succeed without the four-time MVP.

"The narrative is that it's LeBron and the Lakers," Josh Hart said after Tuesday's game, per Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll. "Obviously we hope he's okay, but we've got a lot of good players...If he's down, we're ready to step up. None of us are scared of the spotlight."

Regardless of how long James is out, the upcoming games will be a significant test for the rest of the roster.