LeBron James injury update: Lakers star has promising timetable for return

The Los Angeles Lakers could have star LeBron James returning sooner than expected.

After an extremely active offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers have not received the desired early results. It does not help that star LeBron James has been out since Nov. 2 due to an abdominal strain. For those Lakers fans wondering and waiting for James to return, it may not be much longer.

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, a source close to James told the network that he will be returning “soon,” as he is “progressing great” in on-court workouts.

LeBron James could be returning to Lakers “soon”

While that is great and all, despite the lack of specifics in terms of days, head coach Frank Vogel said, via McMenamin, that James has yet to participate in either contact drills or full practices. So once he is able to do that, Lakers fans can expect James to return to the starting lineup.

James played in just six games before picking up his injury. In that span of contests, he averaged 24.8 points, 7.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals while shooting 46.7-percent from the field and 34.7-percent from the three-point line.

Since James was sidelined with his injury, the Lakers have gone 3-3. Those three losses came at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Anthony Davis stepped up in James’ absence, as he averaged 23.8 points and 11.5 rebounds in that span of games.

As LeBron continues to heal up and get ready for his comeback, Los Angeles will host the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.