Is LeBron James playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder today, March 4th?

The Los Angeles Lakers will try to rebound from Saturday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets as they host the conference leading Oklahoma City Thunder tonight from the Cyrpto.com Arena. LeBron James has been listed on the injury report pretty much every game since the All-Star Break, and tonight is no different.

LeBron’s exclusive 40k club

The Lakers star has been dealing with an ankle injury for the last couple months but has been able to fight through it during most games in which he has been named on the report. He missed the first game back out of the break against the Golden State Warriors, but has played every game since then. In that span, he led LA to a 21 point fourth quarter comeback over the Clippers, put up 30+ against the Wizards and became the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points.

At 39 years old, LeBron will need to be protected from injury more than anyone in the league, especially considering how important he is when it comes to the success of his team. The ankle injury is most likely not going to subside, and it’s too late in the season to do anything drastic like surgery or sit out while the ankle has it’s proper time to heal. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him listed on each and every injury report from here until the rest of the season, although we should expect him to play most of those games if the injury doesn’t worsen.

Wood and Vanderbilt out

James comes into the day as questionable, and the medical staff is citing a left ankle peroneal tendinopathy. Los Angeles are in a position where they can’t afford to lose to many games from here until the end of the regular season. Currently in 10th place in the West, LA has their work cut out to jump into 6th place in the conference which would guarantee an automatic playoff spot and keep them out of the Play-In Tournament.

James is averaging 25.3 points, 7 rebounds and 7.9 assists in his 21st year in the league. He is without a question the most impactful player on the team, but that doesn’t mean he can carry the team solo for the rest of the season. Tonight Christian Wood (left knee) and Jared Vanderbilt (foot) have been ruled out for the home game against the Thunder.