Frank Vogel says LeBron James is ‘good to go’ for play-in game

Ahead of Wednesday’s highly-anticipated play-in game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors, Frank Vogel gave an encouraging update on one of the contest’s key players: LeBron James.

James, who exited Sunday’s contest after re-aggravating his right ankle sprain, will be in uniform on Wednesday, according to Frank Vogel.

“He had some minor soreness but he’s good to go,” Vogel said after practice on Tuesday. “He was a full participant in practice today and is good to go.”

James had already said he planned to play in Wednesday’s play-in game, but there was always the possibility of his ankle being too sore in the days after he re-aggravated it. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Anthony Davis will also be available on Wednesday after initially being listed as questionable for Sunday’s game with left adductor strain tightness.

“I’m fine,” Davis said. “The adductor feels good, the shoulder feels good.”

The only real question mark going into Wednesday’s game is Dennis Schröder. While Schröder is expected to be available, he revealed at practice on Tuesday that he doesn’t quite feel 100% yet.

“I’m still not, conditioning-wise, all the way back,” Schröder said. “I’ve been out 10 days. I didn’t do nothing, I was at home.

“At the end of the day, I’m going to work my way into it, but it’s not going to hurt my teammates. I’m going to give everything I have, go out there and do the same things that I do during the season and truly to get a W.”

Schröder clarified that his issues with conditioning have to do with the time he missed rather anything related to COVID, which he recently said he didn’t have.

So, barring any last-minute injuries, the Lakers will be whole on Wednesday. The Warriors, on the other hand, will be without two of their regular starters, Kelly Oubre Jr. and James Wiseman.

The Lakers’ health alone won’t guarantee them a win but, as we saw throughout the regular season, health plays a big part in these matchups. We’ll see how big a difference it makes on Wednesday.

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