Just about every time a superstar suffers a major injury, it’s a bad turn of events for his team, if not a downright disaster.
That was the situation the Los Angeles Lakers were faced with in late February when LeBron James injured a tendon in his right foot. He was forced to sit out for a month, and once he came back, he said the tendon had been torn.
At the time, the team had just salvaged its season with a series of trades, and an injury to James was the last thing it needed on the journey to recovery after one-and-a-half seasons of ineptitude.
But Dwyane Wade, James’ former championship teammate with the Miami Heat, said on “Club Shay Shay” that the four-time MVP’s injury actually helped Los Angeles.
Via Lakers Daily:
“I think the outcome is different between the Lakers,” Wade said. “With him getting that time away, actually we got a chance to see them grow as a team outside of LeBron. We got to see A.D. (Anthony Davis) grow at that level. Obviously, when he on the floor, we was like, ‘Top five player in the league.’ We got a chance to see what the D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) can bring and what Austin Reaves can bring.
“The best thing to happen to the Lakers was LeBron’s absence because it allowed them to not have to depend on him, right? Because when you got a great player, you depend on that great player. And so they have the rock, and they have something to play for in the middle of that. And so I think it was great for the Lakers.”
While James was out, the Lakers played better than expected, winning eight of 13 games. It was during this time that Reaves started to take things to a higher level, which earned him a spot in the starting lineup.
James admitted he came back sooner than projected because his team played so well without him, which showed him the ultimate potential of its new-look roster.