The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA but they were dealt a brutal blow when LeBron James left Saturday’s loss to the Boston Celtics with a groin injury. The issues got worse when it was revealed James would miss 1-2 weeks with a groin strain and would be reevaluated in the coming days.
Sitting in the middle of a playoff race that has four teams within two games of the second seed in the Western Conference, the Lakers injuries are coming at the worst time with Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and even Luka Doncic dealing with ailments. But things took another turn for the worse based on news that dropped Monday morning.
Jaxson Hayes Latest Laker Injury Amid LeBron James’ Absence
The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reports that Lakers center Jaxson Hayes has been downgraded to out for Monday night’s game at the Brooklyn Nets. Hayes missed Saturday’s loss to Boston with a right knee contusion and joins Hacimura, Finney-Smith and James who will not play in Monday’s game. Buha also adds that Doncic is questionable with back soreness, leaving Los Angeles severely shorthanded.
Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion) has been downgraded to out for tonight’s game at Brooklyn, per the Lakers.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 10, 2025
The Lakers will be without LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and Hayes. Luka Doncic remains questionable.
Hayes’s addition to the injured list comes at a bad time. The Lakers’ weakness has been in the frontcourt this season and got worse when they traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks and a trade with the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams was rescinded after the center failed a physical.
The good news was that Hayes was stepping up to fill that void. In 14 games since the Davis-for-Doncic trade, the 24-year-old was averaging 8.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and was giving Los Angeles quality minutes at the center position, helping them post a 12-2 record during that span.
Hayes’s absence shouldn’t be an issue as they battle the 21-42 Nets on Monday but the schedule picks up considerably beginning with Thursday’s road game at the Milwaukee Bucks and Friday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers will also host the Suns on March 16, the Nuggets on March 19 and the Bucks on March 20 in a stretch that could decide where they end up in the playoffs.
We know that James will miss most of that stretch. It’s just a matter of how quickly the rest of the Lakers can recover that could help their playoff positioning.