LeBron James could return as early as Friday against Celtics

Based on League insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Lakers forward LeBron James has made good progress in his rehab since a Abdominal strain injury that has forced him to be inactive for the past two weeks.

With that good news comes “growing optimism” that the four-time MVP could be back on the field soon, with Friday’s game against the Celtics seen as a target date for James to rejoin the Lakers (8-7). ).

Head coach Frank Vogel said Sunday that James has returned to the field and resumed individual training in recent days. The Lakers’ timing couldn’t have been better as they started their five-game road trip against the Bucks (6-8). Lakers are about to lose 121-103 to the Bulls, Monday, where Anthony Davis was sent off in the third inning when he put his boots back on and argued with the referee.

The Lakers’ ups and downs so far this season have been well documented, and Davis was frank about the franchise’s championship hopes following a recent 107-83 loss to the Timberwolves.

“We suck,” Davis said every Daily Lakers. “Without defense, you can’t score. It’s not this third quarter. Every third quarter that we’ve played this season, we’ve been slow, ignorant offensively and defensively. We have to make it together. Why? I cannot tell you. But we have to do a better job. We scored 12 points in the third quarter. They scored 40. It was the match right there. We have to do a better job coming out in season three. Champion team? That’s not us right now. We are not winning championships the way we are playing. We have to get better, and we have to be more concerned with wins at home, wins in general. That is shameful.”