LeBron James has been one of the most durable superstars the league has ever seen, he has been blessed with a strong body and he takes care of his body by spending 1.5 million a year on recovery, personal chefs, training, etc, but as he is starting to age, the father time is tapping on his shoulder. He joined the Lakers in 2019 and suffered a groin injury during a Christmas game against Golden State Warriors, the next year when he was fully healthy they won a championship and last year was another year where he sprained his upper right ankle was out for the season and couldn’t return 100% healthy which resulted in a shameful 1st round exit.
LeBron this year has already been preserving his body and the addition of Westbrook certainly helps it, he took back to back games off due to strain on his ankle and is now out for a strain in the abdominal, which he previously would have played but due to his advance age and his importance to team and Russ controlling the game while he is gone will allow the 4 times champion to take extra rest and preserve his body for the wear and tear of the playoffs, especially with new NBA rule changes where the defenders are allowed to be more physical to the offensive player.
