LeBron James injury: Lakers star will miss Clippers game, Vogel hopes for quick return

LeBron James' continued absence has seen the Lakers drop to sixth in the Western Conference

The Los Angeles Lakers will reportedly be without LeBron James for their upcoming games against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trailblazers on Thursday and Friday night respectively.

The four-time NBA champion will sit out the games against Clippers and Trailblazers to rest his injured right ankle. James has already missed 20 consecutive games because of the same injury and is currently listed as "day-to-day."

The 17-time NBA All-Star returned from the ankle injury for last week's game against the Sacramento Kings, which the Lakers lost 110-106. They followed that up with a loss to the Toronto Raptors with James scoring 19 points.

James sat out the final six minutes of the game against the Raptors owing to a sore ankle and eventually missed their win against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. According to NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers cager will miss their two upcoming games at least.

"Lakers star LeBron James is expected to miss back-to back games on Thursday (Clippers) and Friday (Blazers) to rest his right ankle, sources tell ESPN. James will proceed cautiously with ankle injury as playoffs approach," Wojnarowski wrote.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel admits that James' recurring injury is not ideal going into the final stretch of the regular season. The Lakers are currently sixth in the Western Conference with seven games still left to play.

Vogel is only hoping that the purple and gold will have its leader back in full fitness before the playoffs begin. The Lakers could find themselves in the NBA's play-in tournament if they finish anywhere between seventh and 10^th in the conference.

"We want him back as soon as possible. But we want him back as healthy as possible," Vogel said of James, as quoted on USA Today. "That's the No. 1 goal. Wherever we end up in the standings, we want him as healthy as possible going into the playoffs. Other than that, we're just going to compete and try to win as many games down the stretch here."

Meanwhile, James is not the only concern the Lakers have going into the stretch. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, point guard Dennis Schroder is also expected to miss 10-14 days due to health and safety protocols.