LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers

When you talk about the Lakers, it is hard to pinpoint anybody other than LeBron James to talk about. You can talk about this team’s injury concerns and the health of some of their other key players, but at the end of the day, this team will go as far as LeBron James is able to take them, just like all of the other teams James has been on throughout his career. 

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LeBron is a special player and has been over the course of his now 18-year career and while his play on the court is obviously important to the Lakers’ success, the reason LeBron James is the player to watch for the Lakers in the play-in games is because of his health. 

James missed over a month of action with a high ankle sprain during the regular season and in their season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans, he tweaked his ankle again. Since then, LeBron James has downplayed his ankle injury stating that he is 100% ready to go for their game against the Warriors, but who knows how healthy LeBron actually is. 

This is playoff time and he is not going to sit out any game unless he physically cannot walk, but this is definitely a storyline to watch throughout the play-in tournament and potentially into the playoffs if the Lakers are able to win a game in the play-in tournament. 

LeBron James is dealing with his ankle issue, Anthony Davis has been dealing with numerous injuries and some other key players on this Lakers’ roster have been banged up here and there, so health is definitely a concerning factor for the defending NBA champions.