LeBron James had an accident in the match against Atlanta Hawks. MRI test detested a high ankle sprain, forcing him to stay out of the game indefinitely.
On Saturday, 20th March 2020, Los Angeles Laker had to give up another player for the season. During the second quarter of the match, LeBron met a severe injury.
Shooting Guard for the Lakers, James was moving forward with the ball. Hawks forward Solomon Hill fell on LeBron’s ankle while trying to tackle the ball.
As Hill fell on James’s ankle, his feet had external rotation causing a High ankle sprain.
LeBron just exited the game and is going back to the locker room. On the way, he knocked a chair over. He's limping. Clearly in a lot of pain.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 20, 2021
Solomon got a foul for his attempt.
The big guy cried out of pain but did not immediately leave the court. He got up, scored a 3-point basket, and limped out.
On his way to the locker, he slammed the chair expressing his frustration.
Nothing angers and saddens me more than not being available to and for my teammates! I’m hurt inside and out right now. ??♂️. The road back from recovery begins now. Back soon like I never left. #ThekidfromAKRON??
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 21, 2021
Atlanta Hawks won the game by five points.
High- Ankle Sprain Recovery
High ankle sprain gets its name for its position. When the ligaments of the area around the upper part of the ankle are injured, it is a high ankle sprain.
It happens when the foot rotates externally; the same happened in LeBron’s case.
Immediately after the injury, he did an X-ray. The X-ray reports had shed some hope to the player and the team as it was negative. But the MRI reports proved otherwise.
This type of injury requires anywhere from six weeks to two months of bed rest.
Lakers and Injury
The Lakers have it rough this season. With their big man, Anthony Davis, and other leads like Jared Dudley and now James out for weeks, it seems worse.
Anthony expects to be back in April. If all goes well, James would be back by playoffs, which is in nine weeks henceforth.
LA team has to manage to be in the top 6 in the Western Conference to defend their NBA trophy. At the moment, they are 2.5 games behind Utah and 2.5 points behind Phoenix.
Utah Jazz is leading the board of the Western Conference. Phoenix Suns and Lakers are technically in a tie for the second position.
However, the Suns are at an advantage as they have 2.5 more scores than the Lakers.
Talking to ESPN, Frank Vogel said that it would be challenging for the team to play underman. If they play high defensively, they might still manage to win.
Does James still have a shot at MVP?
Most Valuable Player is an annual award given to the best performing player of the season.
MVP selection depends on how much the player contributes to the wins secured by teams and the votes. Based on the player’s performance during the season top, five are selected.
Then the members of the voting panel get to cast the polls as per their preference. The selected panel has to give all five finalists positions as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th.
Also, 1st position hold 10 points, 2nd 7 points, 3rd 5 points, 4th 3 points, and 5th gets 1 point. One ballot is chosen from the votes cast by fans online.
Whichever finalist gets the most points wins MVP.
For this season, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is at the top of the ladder now.
Following Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James is in the fourth position.
Availability for the matches has a significant impact on the MVP leader board. Recent MVPs have not missed more than ten games in a season.
Being away from the games will not work in James’ favor of being MVP, although miracles do happen. Bill Walton in 1977-1978 did win the title despite being away for 34 matches.
James Believes That He Deserves More MVPs
Undoubtedly one of the best players of the NBA, James did not give much importance to awards.
However, now that he has not won it since 2013 despite being considered the best of the best, he feels otherwise.
In his opinion, he does deserve more than just four of it.
The opinion is shared by his coach, Vogel as well. “It’s a mistake on the voters’ part to go season after season without voting the best player in the league MVP,” He said.
“You know what I mean? That’s the simplest way to put it.
There have been other deserving players, but he’s been the best player in the league for as long as I can remember.”
