How concerned should we be about the Los Angeles Lakers and their superstars?
When LeBron James returned to the lineup on Friday following a 20-game absence from a high ankle sprain, eight days after Anthony Davis came back after missing 30 games, the Lakers seemed to have survived the simultaneous absences of their two superstars.
Instead, the Lakers dropped the next two games, with LeBron leaving Sunday's loss to the Toronto Raptors early due to ankle soreness and sitting out Monday's surprising win over the surging Denver Nuggets. The Lakers played both those games without starting point guard Dennis Schroder, who's expected to miss 10 to 14 days due to the NBA's health and safety protocols.
With James now expected to miss at least the Lakers' next two games, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the caveat about the Lakers being fine for the playoffs as long as their stars are healthy is in jeopardy.
Will AD, LeBron & Co. be ready to navigate a more difficult path than they faced as the No. 1 seed in last year's bubble playoffs? Let's take a look.