Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will be allowed to play in Wednesday’s Summer League game against the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas despite previously passing a “virus” test, the team has announced.
ESPN reported that James tested positive for a virus when he reported for his physical with the Lakers ahead of Monday’s NBA Summer League game against the Phoenix Suns in Las Vegas.
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James was sent home as a precaution and the Lakers staff returned the test results from the Lakers’ primary physicians. James, whose Cavs lost the NBA Finals to Golden State in a five-game series earlier this month, will go against the Kings Wednesday night and the Las Vegas locals are taking no chances.
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The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that a two-thirds no-smoking section was installed around the Clippers’ practice facility at UNLV in case James takes up a cigarette on the bench. Locals are apparently already mocking James by painting yellow bulls on their lawns and that Lakers guard Josh Hart flew to Vegas to meet his sister who lives there, sporting the infamous phrase on her back.
The Clippers also temporarily removed the Bleacher Report billboard outside the arena of LeBron James according to @BLCleanPatterson. pic.twitter.com/CDsT9gJQAP — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 16, 2017
But he could still go on to generate as much hype as he did during his final season with the Cavs, when James left Cleveland and went to Miami, where he teamed up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to win two straight NBA championships. His return home to Akron, Ohio, where he grew up and won a pair of state championships, was a huge story. He ends his career, however, with a third NBA championship.
This is not the first time the four-time league MVP has been in the headlines for something involving his physical. In 2013, an erroneous media report stated that James had suffered a knee injury before a game with the Clippers, a defeat that ultimately ended his season. In February 2015, James signed with the Lakers, with whom he then played in a 99-96 win over the Warriors, and, according to reports at the time, showed discomfort on the right knee in practice. He played one game before the season was postponed.
The San Antonio Spurs finished second in the West to Cleveland this season, and James is the odds-on favorite to win his fourth MVP award.