After missing the past 13 games, LeBron James is available to play for the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday against the Chicago Bulls.
James has been dealing with a tendon injury in his right foot. He was initially upgraded Saturday to doubtful for Sunday’s game, then Sunday was deemed questionable before testing his foot and being cleared to play.
James will come off the bench against the Bulls, the Lakers announced. It will be just the second time in 1,414 career games that he has played as a reserve. The first was Dec. 11, 2007, when he sacrificed his starting spot for Anderson Varejao, who had been in a contract dispute with the Cleveland Cavaliers, so that Varejao would be cheered with the starters and protected from fans booing him when he checked in off the bench.
The Lakers have gone 8-5 since James went down, reaching .500 for the first time all season with a 116-111 win over Oklahoma City on Friday and climbing to No. 8 in the Western Conference standings.
James, 38, has missed 27 games this season — tied for the most games he has missed in a season in his career because of injury.
D’Angelo Russell (right hip soreness) is out of Sunday afternoon’s game.
Information from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin was used in this report.