Quijano: Will the Lakers make the playoffs?

THAT seems to be the question on everybody’s minds right now. With 25 games to go, and currently mired in the 10th spot with a record of 28-29 they are three games behind their fellow LA resident, the Clippers with a record of 32-27.

It was not too long ago, when Lebron James arrived in the City of Angels to much fanfare, and with very high expectations.

After all, James has made the playoffs for the past 14 seasons, and after what he did with that motley crew of Cleveland Cavaliers, managing to drag them all the way into the NBA Finals, you could forgive them for making lofty assumptions.

INJURY. Unfortunately, James’s groin injury is the culprit to their present quagmire and truth be told, this does not forebode well for this team in the near future.

Consider that James is 34 years old and is playing in his 16th season. This was his first major injury wherein he was sidelined for 17 games wherein the Lakers went 6-11.

When he came back he wasn’t really 100 percent yet, and he had to miss out the game against Golden State Warriors due to load management.

Load management? That jargon sounds like it came straight out of a construction site.

I never heard of a healthy Michael Jordan take a game off because of load management.

If you examine this closely, this is irrefutable evidence that James himself acknowledges that his body is showing the wear and tear of all those basketball years and he risks the danger of it breaking down if he over-exerts or over-taxes himself. James is just being smart and being honest.

The problem now is that his team has to play catch-up. Jalen Rose correctly put it when he said that James has to play at an MVP level for this team to have a hope of catching that last bus into the playoffs.

But at what cost? James is already averaging a triple double (23.2 pts, 10.8 rebounds, 11.0 assists) since his return.

Run the machine into overdrive to get to the no. 8 spot only to get eviscerated by the Golden State Warriors in the first round?

The Lakers management have a lot of serious thinking to do. If it were up to me, I say forget the pressure of making the playoffs. Just let it ride and don’t push it. If it happens, it happens. You cannot run the risk of losing Lebron to a more serious injury this season AND potentially endanger also the next season.

LAST ROUND. It’s on my kumare, Tetchie Zosa Tan who recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!

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