When the Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell Westbrook for D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley in early February, many fans felt like a burden had been lifted off the team, and they also felt a sense of cautious optimism.
But LeBron James’ right foot tendon injury, which he suffered in late February in a road win over the Dallas Mavericks, poured some cold water on that optimism.
Luckily, the team went 8-5 without him, and since he returned on March 26, it has gone on a three-game winning streak.
They may be a silver lining to James being out for a month. For one, he got some valuable and beneficial rest, and in addition, former teammate Richard Jefferson, now an analyst for ESPN, said it looks like he has lost at least 10 pounds since sustaining the injury.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Well one of the things I’ve noticed is that he looks like he lost about 10, 12 pounds from the time that he got hurt to now,” Jefferson said. “It looks like he’s trying to take weight off of that foot, make him a little bit lighter, make him a little bit quicker.”
If James has indeed lost 10-12 pounds, it should take some stress off his feet, which could lessen the chances of him aggravating the injury.
He hasn’t played extremely well since returning, as he could be taking it a bit easy for the time being, but a healthy James on a surging Lakers team should be a big concern for the rest of the Western Conference.
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Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire