LeBron James to miss Friday’s preseason finale, status for opening night unclear

LeBron James will miss the Cleveland Cavaliers’ preseason finale on Friday against the Orlando Magic. His status for opening night against Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics is also in question.

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue updated James’ status at Wednesday’s practice in Independence.

“Got treatment all day today, so I'm not sure if we should be concerned or not,” Lue said, per ESPN. “But it's pretty sore today so we'll just see what happens.”

James has only played in one preseason game - last night’s loss to the Bulls - after rolling his ankle about two weeks ago.

James missing Friday isn’t too big of a deal, although the Cavs would certainly like to have James on the court if only to get him reps with the team’s new starting five. Against the Bulls, it was obvious that James needed to get used to playing with his new teammates. He also appear to roll it again during the game, although he stayed in.

Opening night is another question. The Cavs would certainly like to have him, and the magnitude of the game won’t be the same if he’s not on the court playing against Irving. But if he’s not 100 percent, and ready to go full-stop, will the Cavs have him play? We’ll have to wait and see.