Report: LeBron James Hopes To Return To The Lakers Before The Regular Season Ends

The Los Angeles Lakers have managed to stay afloat in the Western Conference in the 12 games since LeBron James hurt his foot. Los Angeles is 7-5 in that stretch, and have remained right in the thick of things in the Western Conference play-in race — L.A. is currently 36-37 and has the 10-seed, although they are only a game and a half back of the Golden State Warriors in sixth.

On Thursday, the Lakers offered an update on their injured All-Star, saying that while there isn’t a set date for him to return to action, James is gradually getting to a place where he can return to action. There are, however, multiple media reports that the hope from the former league MVP is that he’ll be able to suit up before the regular season comes to an end, with Dave McMenamin of ESPN saying that James “will push for sometime over the final three games that the Lakers play” to make his return, as long as he does not run into any sort of setback.

The report was confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, while Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report said that James hopes he’ll be able to play before the regular season concludes.

L.A. has nine more games left in the regular season, with the final three coming at Crypto.com Arena.