"Trying to play the Lakers' hand - Gilbert Arenas' co-host seemingly accuses LeBron James of faking sciatica injury

LeBron James is currently dealing with sciatica and will miss the early parts of the upcoming season. However, Gilbert Arenas' co-host isn't convinced about the injury enough to believe it. Josiah Johnson is leaning toward the idea of James faking his injury as a message to the LA Lakers.

Speaking on a recent livestream with Arenas and Brandon Jennings, Johnson discussed the Lakers' preparations for the season. A lifelong Lakers fan, the former UCLA Bruin liked what Luka Doncic had done in the summer before putting a dent in James' sciatica injury.

"To be honest, I feel like that sciatica might be a little fugazi," Johnson said. "Man had all summer to get right. He was out there on the golf course, 18 holing, fell in love chasing the white ball. I think the sciatica is really trying to play the Lakers' hand."

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Josiah Johnson added that LeBron James is sending a message to the LA Lakers for not giving him an extension. The Lakers, under their new ownership, have made Luka Doncic the new face of the franchise by giving him a massive $165 million extension.

James is playing in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The sciatica injury was announced last week, with the team ruling him out for three to four weeks.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported that "The King" suffered the injury during a workout in late July or early September. Some fans are having doubts because James was playing golf in August and September, and sciatica is often an injury seen in golfers.

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Craig Carton also suggests same idea about LeBron James

On the latest episode of "The Craig Carton Show," radio personality Craig Carton argued that LeBron James could be faking his injury. Carton observed James' movement over the past few weeks, which included dancing on Kai Cenat's live stream.

"I'm calling BS on it because I just saw him dancing last week, and that's not what you do with sciatica," Carton said, according to Fadeaway World. "I hate to be that guy, but this seems to be the current norm for LeBron, where he's not ready to go either into an All-Star break, or to start a season, or during a quote-unquote 'meaningless' part of the season, and disappears."

James will be turning 41 in December, so it will be interesting to see how the injury affects his historic 23rd season in the NBA.

Edited by Juan Paolo David