Lakers News: Latest on LeBron James' Injury Timeline, Russell Westbrook

The start of the 2021-22 season hasn't been kind to the Los Angeles Lakers. The team is 5-5 and in 10th place in the Western Conference as of Monday. Several of its performances have been disjointed, with the Lakers lacking chemistry on both ends of the floor.

The team is also dealing with a rash of injuries, chief among them an abdominal strain that's kept LeBron James out of the lineup the last two games, which turned out to be demoralizing losses to Oklahoma City and Portland. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Thursday that James is expected to miss at least one week, but there's a distinct possibility that could turn into one month or longer.

The Athletic's Bill Oram pointed to an Instagram post from former Lakers strength and conditioning coach Tim DiFranceso, in which he illustrates the kind of actions that can lead to a strain of the rectus abdominis muscle. According to DiFranceso's post, the injury typically has a recovery period of 4-8 weeks.

"Especially the way he plays, it's tough for me to see him getting back under four weeks," said DiFrancesco, per Oram. "Then again, he's a different dude, so I wouldn't put anything past him. ... These are such delicate injuries that can respond to rest with pain relief quickly, but they are highly susceptible to reinjury if returned too quickly."

It's entirely possible that James, who is averaging 24.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this year, has a mild strain and will only miss a handful of games. Then again, he's 36 years old with an incredible amount of wear and tear on his body after so many long NBA seasons. His ability to bounce back from injury isn't what it used to be, and he's already dealt with an ankle injury this season. If DiFrancesco's correct in his assessment, James might be absent, or at least not at full strength, until late December.

While losing James for any period of time is never good, a long absence has the makings of a disaster if the Lakers can't quickly find some cohesion on the court. So far the team is 1-3 without him this year. The offseason overhaul that brought in the likes of Russell Westbrook, DeAndre Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard hasn't produced inspiring basketball.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Westbrook has taken a good share of the early criticism as he struggles to carve out his role on the team. The nine-time All Star was especially poor in the 105-90 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, scoring just eight points on 1-of-13 shooting from the floor with six turnovers. Following the loss, Westbrook said he needs to "play harder," per the Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner.

"Do a better job of being me consistently and not confining my game or how I play because it just doesn't work for our team and it doesn't work just in general, just doesn't put me in the position or a pace I need to play at to be able to better my teammates," Westbrook said. "So, that's just something I need to make sure I'm consistently doing."

The 32-year-old point guard also noted that it takes him some time to get into a groove, per ClutchPoints:

To be fair, Westbrook's situation is far from ideal right now, as the Lakers are missing more than just James. Davis left Saturday's game with a stomach illness, and the likes of Trevor Ariza and Talen Horton-Tucker are also dealing with injuries. The team defense has been a disappointment (113.3 PPG, 27th in the league), and head coach Frank Vogel is doing what he can to get the lineup combinations right.

Westbrook's comments make it clear he's willing to dig in and do the work necessary to get through this adjustment period, but considering all the early challenges the team is facing, the organization is surely hoping he'll find a shortcut to success.