{"id":615015,"date":"2026-02-21T03:19:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T03:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/615015\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T03:19:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T03:19:52","slug":"lebron-james-upgraded-to-available-for-clippers-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/615015\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James upgraded to available for Clippers showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> will host the LA Clippers on Friday night, their first game back after the All-Star break, and <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/players\/b1a9094f\/lebron-james\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LeBron James<\/a> orignally <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Dave_Yapkowitz\/status\/2024951303437516953\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">appeared on the team\u2019s<\/a> injury report as questionable. James was listed as dealing with left knee soreness. However, he was upgraded to available an hour before the game. Here is everything we know regarding LeBron James\u2019 injury and his playing status for the Lakers vs. the Clippers.<\/p>\n<p>*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fubo.tv\/lp\/nba\/?irad=356361&amp;irmp=492408\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"sponsored noopener sponsored nofollow\">(free trial)<\/a>*<\/p>\n<p>LeBron James\u2019 injury status vs. Clippers<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3708584\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/James-vs-the-Pelicans.jpg\" alt=\"Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots a lay up against New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (15) during the second half at Smoothie King Center\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\"  \/>Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said James would go through his normal pregame routine and see how he felt, and that he woke up with his knee feeling sore after a full practice on Thursday. James obviously felt well enough to suit up against the Clippers after his pregame warmup.<\/p>\n<p>James began the season sidelined due to a nerve injury, and he missed the first 14 games of the year before making his return to the lineup in mid November. Upon his return, James was not playing in the full set of back-to-backs until last month. After he missed the Lakers\u2019 game against the San Antonio Spurs right before the All-Star break, James was no longer eligible for postseason awards and honors, snapping his streak of 21 consecutive seasons of making an All-NBA Team.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/lakers-news-why-lebron-james-doesnt-care-playing-la-all-star-game\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lakers star took part in All-Star Weekend<\/a> as a member of Team Stripes after he was selected as a reserve by the coaches. It was James\u2019 22nd straight season of being named an All-Star. The only season he was not selected was his rookie year.<\/p>\n<p>In the midst of a <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/lakers-news-lebron-james-mic-drop-game-hints-retire\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">historic 23rd season in the NBA, James<\/a> was recently adorned with a special patch on his jersey commemorating his incredible longevity.<\/p>\n<p>James has appeared in 36 games this year, at a little over 33 minutes per game. He\u2019s been averaging 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.5 steals with splits of 50.2 percent shooting from the field, 30.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 74.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers will host the LA Clippers on Friday night, their first game back after the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,4034,192,4032,185,251,135,150,4033,4031,6,14502],"class_list":{"0":"post-615015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-clippers","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-clippers","12":"tag-laclippers","13":"tag-lebron-james","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","16":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-losangelesclippers","19":"tag-nba","20":"tag-nba-injury"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116106466675184192","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}