LeBron James' injury could cost Lakers their contender status 

Up until Saturday, the Lakers were enjoying a honeymoon period after acquiring Luka Doncic. Most fans and media were viewing Los Angeles as the clear winner of the most shocking trade in NBA history. 

And even though sending Anthony Davis, 32, to Dallas for Doncic, 26, was more about the future than just the present, the Lakers were looking like serious contenders this season. 

But then Saturday happened. On Saturday, the Lakers didn't just lose to the rival Boston Celtics, they also lost LeBron James. After that loss, the Lakers learned they would be without the NBA legend for one to two weeks. As of Wednesday, James, who was with the team on their current road trip, returned to Los Angeles for treatment. 

Prior to the injury, James had surpassed 30 points in two of Los Angeles' previous three games and the team had won eight of its last nine with James in the lineup. 

Creating concern about how much James' absence will hurt the Lakers, they are now 0-2 without the NBA's all-time leading scorer. And Thursday night's blowout loss to Milwaukee really stands out as the worst case scenario for the Lakers for however long James is out. 

Los Angeles fell 126-106 to a Bucks team that had lost three straight entering the day, trailing throughout the game. It lost by 20 points despite a big performance from Doncic, too. 

Doncic scored 45 points in 36 minutes while registering a double-double with 11 rebounds and three assists. Austin Reaves posted 28 points in the same amount of time with eight boards and three assists of his own. 

Doncic stepped up and Reaves shot 58.8% from the field, giving his team about as much as it could ask of him, and it ultimately didn't matter. 

At least when the Lakers lost 111-108 to the Nets in their first game since James' diagnosis, they were far more competitive and didn't squander as much of a big game from anyone. Doncic had a triple-double, but he only scored 22 points. Reaves, on the other hand, had 17. Gabe Vincent led the Lakers in scoring in that game with 24. 

However, the Lakers' depth was missing in action in Milwaukee and they ended up completely wasting a 45-point showing from Doncic, billed to be the next Laker great and eventually guide the franchise into the post-LeBron era. 

As Los Angeles now sits in the fourth spot in the Western Conference, it's attempting to hang on to a slim one-game lead over Houston and can even feel the Warriors surging up the standings as they have been red-hot since adding Jimmy Butler. 

It's now fair to wonder where the Lakers will be when James returns and if his absence will have a drastic impact on their situation for the rest of this season, especially when looking at their upcoming schedule. 

The Lakers will now travel to Denver for a matchup with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on Friday night. 

Then, Los Angeles will get a little break when it welcomes the train wreck that's been the Suns to Crypto.com Arena on Sunday and host the injury riddled Spurs on Monday, but that break won't last long as it will see the Bucks and Nuggets again within the next week.