More than anything else, the ongoing storyline that is going to dictate the Lakers playoff hopes and any chance they have in the postseason is the health of LeBron James. As much as the Lakers have played surprisingly well without him and as much as they’ve shown fight and moved up the playoff standings, all of it has a pretty low ceiling without LeBron.
It’s a particularly tough balancing act for LeBron and the Lakers. Without a firm timetable on his return and little even known about the injury itself publicly, it’s hard to know how close he is or isn’t to rejoining the team.