Is LeBron James playing tonight? Latest injury update for Lakers vs. Thunder

If the Los Angeles Lakers want to prove that this season’s team can replicate last year’s second-half run that led to a trip to the Western Conference Finals, they need to show they can hang with the league’s best, with a prime opportunity to do so tonight.

Tonight is an opportunity for the Lakers to go toe-to-toe with one of the NBA’s most exciting and dominant teams this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

But if they want to have any chance to hang with Oklahoma City or any of the league’s best, they will need to have a healthy LeBron James, who is listed as questionable ahead of tonight’s contest. 

Is LeBron James playing tonight?

Per the NBA’s official injury report, James’ injury designation is due to left ankle peroneal tendinopathy.

He’s been monitoring the injury for over a month but has played through the ailment more often than not. The last time James had to miss time because of the ankle issue was Feb. 22, but he’s played in each of the team’s five games since. 

James is still playing at an All-NBA level in his age-39 season, averaging 25.3 points while shooting a career-high 40.8 percent from beyond the arc, adding 7.9 assists, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in 54 games.

Sitting at 33-29, the Lakers are in 10th place in the Western Conference, holding a 5.5-game lead over the Utah Jazz for the final spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament, but are trailing the Sacramento Kings by 2.5 games for the sixth and last guaranteed playoff spot in the West, so every game has monumental implications at this stage in the season.

The Lakers and Thunder will tip off at 10:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised nationally on NBA TV.