LeBron James to miss Lakers’ final 2 games with ankle injury
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James will miss the final two games of the Los Angeles Lakers’ season with a sprained left ankle, almost certainly preventing him from winning his second NBA scoring title.
The Lakers made the announcement Friday before they hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Los Angeles’ disappointing season ends Sunday at Denver.
The 37-year-old James averaged 30.3 points this season while playing in only 56 games, two shy of the minimum to qualify for the scoring title with his full points-per-game average.
The second-leading scorer in NBA history has played in only one game since spraining his ankle March 27, scoring 38 points in a crushing home loss to New Orleans on April 1.
James is slightly behind Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who is averaging 30.4 points per game in one of the closest scoring title races in NBA history.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is third at 29.9 points per game.
James is a four-time league MVP with four championship rings, but he won his only scoring title back in 2008 with Cleveland.
The 18-time All-Star was attempting to become the oldest scoring champion in NBA history by surpassing Michael Jordan, who was 35 when he won his final title.
