Lakers’ LeBron James cleared to return vs. Clippers; NBA issues statement on situation

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is back from health and safety protocols, the NBA announced.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols and is eligible to play Friday against the L.A. Clippers, which was first reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic.

James went into the protocols Tuesday prior to the game against the Sacramento Kings and was initially ruled out for at least 10 days or until he returned multiple negative tests in a 24-hour period. Charania reported James’ initial positive test was actually an inconclusive result.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported James has tested eight times since Saturday, and the one that was inconclusive was a false positive.

The NBA released a statement on the situation:

Anthony Davis had said after the Kings game that James was asymptomatic, which lines up with the news today that the result was a false positive.

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