Swanson: Can LeBron James pull of his second-greatest playoff feat?

The turn this Lakers’ season took, it should go down as one of the franchise’s great what-ifs, coulda-woulda-beens, we’ll-never-knows …

Shared regret for a legion of Lakers fans who were, for the full 15-2 month of March, vibing with their team, screaming excitedly like 6-year-olds and riding hard on the MVP campaign trail for Luka Doncic.

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But then things got twisted — Doncic’s grade 2 hamstring strain and Austin Reaves’ grade 2 oblique strain — and now it should be obvious: With two of their three best players sidelined indefinitely, we should expect the Lakers to shut the book on this season soon, unless …

Unless LeBron James can pull off the second-greatest feat of his 23-year career.

Unless he can carry the Lakers past the heavily favored Rockets in a best-of-seven series that starts Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

Unless the Lakers’ last standing superstar — in what could be his last stand on this team or in this league, no one really knows — can hold the door long enough for Doncic and Reaves to recover and reenter the fray for Round 2.

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Read more: Luka Doncic eligible for NBA’s postseason awards after league, NBPA rule in his favor

Yes, the Lakers are leaning on a 41-year-old who started the season sidelined because of sciatica.

Their season rests entirely on the broad shoulders of the team’s willing third wheel.

It’s all up to the guy who capped the regular season by earning his 70th conference player of the week nod, who has won four NBA titles and three gold medals, but who wouldn’t have been able to finish the first round last postseason if it had taken the Minnesota Timberwolves more than five games to beat the Lakers. Recall, James suffered a grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in the deciding loss.

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So you shouldn’t hold your breath. But you also shouldn’t count out LeBron; the kid from Akron has beaten the odds before.

He would tell you he’s been beating them the whole time, coming from where he started to where he is now, a billionaire basketball player-slash-businessman, he’s scored more points than…

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Publish date : 2026-04-17 10:00:00

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