LeBron James speaks on the health of the Los Angeles Lakers moving into the second half of the season.
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently fifth in the Western Conference at 33-21.
They are bunched with the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Phoenix Suns, who are all within three games of each other.
The Lakers have had an up and down first 54 games of the season, and despite their winning record, they have an even point differential. They are only the only Western Conference team in the top eight to not have a positive point differential.
Perhaps the biggest problem for the Lakers in the first half was the lack of health among their Big Three of LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Luka Doncic.
LeBron James Speaks On Lakers Health
Speaking to the media during All-Star weekend, LeBron said the most important thing for the Lakers is health.
"Not quite sure how many games we've had where we had a full roster. I know it's been a lot more than over half for sure. Our success is gonna come down to obviously I think our health. We've gotten past the marathon and now the sprint is about to start," he said.
LeBron said the coaching staff will put them in the right position, but he hasn't been able to see what they have on the court due to the lack of health.
The Lakers Big Three
LeBron, Luka, and Reaves have played a grand total of ten games together this season, totaling 152 minutes on the court together.
LeBron missed the first 14 games of the season while Luka and Reaves carried the squad. He returned on November 18th, leading to a stretch where all three were relatively healthy until Christmas, when Reaves suffered an injury.
Reaves returned on February 3rd, but one game later, Luka suffered an injury.
Luka felt well enough to play a handful of minutes in the All-Star game, giving optimism that he will be back on the court when the Lakers return to action on Friday against the Clippers.
On-Court Production
A ten-game sample size isn't much, given the quality of players and their respective roles, but the numbers this season aren't promising.
When those three are on the floor together, they have a -9.6 net rating. They are being outscored by 2.6 points per game as well.
LeBron and Luka have a -5.2 net rating and LeBron and Reaves have a -5.4 net rating. The good news is that Luka and Reaves are +6.7.
Last season, the trio played 21 games together and had a 0.1 net rating. That number dropped to -7.7 in the playoffs.