LeBron James Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The latest update on LeBron James’ rehab is probably not what Laker fans were hoping to hear.

The NBA's scoring king went down with a foot injury in early March and has missed his team's last seven games. One league insider has relayed that James is not close to a return. Not by a longshot.

On a recent edition of 'The Hoop Collective' podcast, ESPN's Brian Windhorst gave a rough prognosis of the situation.

"What I’ve heard on LeBron is that he is not close. That was what I was told: Not close," Windhorst said, later adding, "I know that LeBron has played through injuries in the past. I’m not 100% sure that this is an injury he can play through.”

If Laker hopes for a dark horse run in the NBA playoffs are to come to fruition, they will need James back. Ideally at full health and ideally integrated into the offense with the team's newer pieces.

That seems to be far from assured at this juncture.

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