LeBron James will return to the lineup Sunday when the Lakers host the Bulls, the team says.
He’s been out since Feb. 26 because of a ligament injury in his right foot.
Despite few details about his recovery, James’ status has elevated over the last 24 hours, the team first upgrading him to “doubtful” on Saturday before moving him to “questionable” Sunday morning.
James went through an intense on-court workout guided by assistant coach Phil Handy while general manager Rob Pelinka, coach Darvin Ham and James’ trainer, Mike Mancias, watched. Shortly after, he was upgraded to available.
Guard D’Angelo Russell, who missed the Lakers’ last game with a hip injury, will remain sidelined.
James’ return comes one game after the Lakers reached the .500 mark for the first time this season by beating Oklahoma City on Friday. Since James suffered his injury in a win against Dallas, the Lakers went 8-5 and moved into a tie for the seventh-best record in the West.
Earlier this week, the Lakers said James had progressed in his on-court work, news that was accompanied by reports that he was targeting a return in the final week of the regular season.
James pushed back on social media, saying those reports were untrue — Sunday, he bested that return date by more than a week.
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