National Basketball Association

Are the LeBron James and Anthony Davis injury updates a concern for the Lakers?

Updated Apr. 15, 2021 8:40 p.m. ET

The NBA's defending champions are set to be without their two biggest stars for a few more weeks.

While it could still be three weeks or so before LeBron James returns to play for the Los Angeles Lakers, the team did get some good news about Anthony Davis on Thursday. Davis, who has been on the shelf since Feb. 14 with a calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg, has been cleared for full on-court activity. He could play as soon as Saturday or Monday, both games against the Utah Jazz.

In his 25-game absence, a stretch in which James also went down, the Lakers have gone 12-13.

James sustained his injury ⁠— a high right ankle sprain ⁠— on March 20 against the Atlanta Hawks, and in the 11 contests the Lakers have played since then, the defending champions are 5-6.

Initial reports estimated James would be out between four and six weeks, and it's looking like he'll be running closer to the latter part of that timeline.

But Shannon Sharpe of "Undisputed" believes James and the Lakers are doing the right thing by playing it safe.

"[LeBron] is the best player in the NBA, and he can't be 50 percent because if he's 50 percent, they can't win a championship. He understands that he needs to come back guns a-blazing. ... Everything is going to be contingent on those big two: LeBron and A.D. If they're healthy, nothing else matters."

Shannon Sharpe: LeBron James is right on schedule to make his return to Lakers | UNDISPUTED

Hear what Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe have to say about LeBron's injury.

But in Skip Bayless' mind, there could be more to James' taking six weeks to heal as opposed to four.

After the injury against the Hawks, James stayed out on the floor and hit a 3-pointer before walking off and exiting to the locker room.

To Bayless, that signaled James' injury wasn't too severe — or at least not the type of injury that keeps a player out six weeks.

When the report emerged that James would require the entire estimated recovery time, the "Undisputed" cohost was a bit baffled and suggested that perhaps the Lakers seized an opportunity to get their superstar extra rest.

"I believe somebody got to LeBron upstairs ... and said, 'Hey, let's just back off. We have a legitimate excuse here. Let's maximize your time off. If it's four to six [weeks]. Let's take six.' So that when he does come back, and AD does come back ⁠— they hope ⁠— full strength, that LeBron will be completely and utterly rested.'"

Coming off their title win, the Lakers had the shortest turnaround between celebrating their championship and defending it due to the pandemic wreaking havoc on the NBA schedule.

Although he skipped most of the Lakers' preseason action, James and the Lakers had just 71 days between games.

From there, James played in 36 straight games before finally taking a game off against the Sacramento Kings ahead of the All-Star break. He played in five more games for the Lakers before picking up his injury in the fifth game.

If he's due back in three weeks — say for the Lakers' May 4 clash against the Milwaukee Bucks — he would miss a total of 12 more games, in addition to the 11 he has already been absent for in this stretch.

With the season shortened to 72 games this season, as opposed to the traditional 82, that would leave six regular-season contests for James to gear up for the playoffs.

That's assuming his team hangs on in the hyper-competitive Western Conference, though the NBA's implementation of the Play-In Tournament ⁠— which extends playoff eligibility to the 10th-seeded team in each conference ⁠— gives the currently 33-20 and fifth-seeded Lakers quite a bit of wiggle room.

If the Lakers are indeed banking on getting their stars a bit of extra rest, they could be using last season's irregular schedule as a blueprint. The pandemic forced a stoppage from March 10 to late July, and the season then picked up with the bubble and subsequent playoffs in Florida.

When the playoffs hit, the Lakers lost only five games en route to the title, with James averaging 27.6 points, 8.8 assists and 10.8 rebounds.

With Davis and LeBron getting midseason time off – albeit while injured and for not quite as long – will history repeat itself?

For Laker Nation, it's all a waiting game.

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