This isn’t the way most thought LeBron James’ first season with the Los Angeles Lakers would end.
With the playoffs now a long shot, the Lakers will put James on a minutes restriction and could sit him out on the back end of back-to-backs for the rest of the season, Yahoo Sports reported Thursday.
The Lakers are 6 1/2 games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, trailing the Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth seed.
BREAKING: @ChrisBHaynes reports Lakers will put LeBron on a minutes restriction and likely won’t let him play back-to-backs. pic.twitter.com/02jI7UYIsp
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 7, 2019
The Lakers have collapsed since late December. Once the fourth seed, James pulled his groin on Christmas and missed the next 18 games — and the Lakers went 6-12 in that span.
Even after James’ return from injury, Los Angeles has struggled. The team was unable to pull off a trade for New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis last month, and some have theorized that drama affected the team’s chemistry.
James signed a four-year, $153 million deal with the Lakers last summer.
The 34-year-old has not missed the playoffs since 2005 and is coming off a streak in which he made the last eight NBA finals.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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