Angels – LeBron James The League was given clearance to return to the Los Angeles Lakers’ game lineup against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday shortly after the NBA’s health and safety protocols, the league announced Thursday.
Sources told ESPN that James has returned eight negative tests since returning to Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, after the Lakers star tested positive for COVID-19 in Sacramento Tuesday morning.
The Lakers beat the Kings without James, 117-92, and had a day off Wednesday, during which James took to Twitter to hint at his displeasure with the protocols.
James did not train with the Lakers on Thursday, as health and safety protocols required him to be isolated from the team until he returned two negative tests within a 24-hour period.
On Thursday, the League released a statement detailing the chain of events that led to James’ absence from the Kings game and his return to the Clippers game:
“After two negative PCR tests conducted over 24 hours apart, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has agreed to NBA health and safety protocols,” the league said in its statement.
James was originally put into protocols on Tuesday, November 30 after a series of tests showed conflicting results, including the initial positive test collected on November 29. Additional tests confirmed he was not a positive case.
“In accordance with the protocols and consistent testing practices in place since the 2019-20 season resumed in Orlando, the sample that produced the initial positive test was retested twice and returned a negative and positive result on two different PCRs. One reported a negative result and the second test yielded an inconclusive clinical result.”