Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is shooting again after going down injured against the Golden State Warriors last Tuesday.
The former Cleveland Cavaliers forward sustained a groin injury during the Christmas Day special and there's still no word on when he will resume playing. But there's some good news coming from the Lakers camp.
James has missed the team's last three games and will not play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. However, he participated in practice on Tuesday and did some shooting for the first time since he sustained the problem, according to ESPN's Baxter Holmes.
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The player is still listed as day-to-day and his return is still anyone's guess. The Lakers, meanwhile, have lost two of the three games he's missed but made a statement against the Sacramento Kings in their last match.
"That's the first time I've seen [James] shooting," head coach Luke Walton said on Tuesday, "He's working on his body, his game, himself all the time. But that's the first time I've seen him shoot [since the injury]."
Lakers swingman Lance Stephenson has admitted that things are much quieter with James out of the lineup but reckons the team has figured out how to go on in his absence.
"It's definitely tough because he's very vocal," he said. "With him missing, it's like everyone is quiet. You don't know what's going on on the floor. But as the games that we had, I think we got better at it."
Los Angeles will be playing the Thunder for the first time this season in a match surrounded by plenty of hype due to Paul George's refusal to join King James during the summer, yet Walton has played it down.
"It doesn't matter," the coach said. "You prep yourself, you do your work and then whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. You don't get too emotionally attached to it. We went after players, LeBron decided to come, Paul didn't. That's our team now. We're very happy we have LeBron James on our team."
"He's where he's at," Stephenson added. "We talk. We friends. On holidays we talk, keep in touch, we play in video games together sometimes. But for the most part, yeah, that's my boy."
What This Means
It appears that LeBron could be back sooner rather than later. But the Thunder will hand the Lakers a basis for a thorough assessment of their play without the four-time MVP when they clash on Wednesday.
A win would further signal how far they've progressed as a core while a loss would underpin their reliance on their huge, summer signing.