The Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers' All-Star breaks had to be cut short by a day as their postponed matchup has been rescheduled to Wednesday.
It probably won't be an ordinary bout because it could feature some underlying drama. As many know, the teams were involved in a trade-deadline deal that the Lakers decided to back out of.
That left the Hornets in an awkward situation, as their relationship with Mark Williams has likely become strained. In addition, they lost out on what might turn out to be a valuable draft pick and two guys who could have proven useful down the road as potential rotation players or trade pieces.
It remains to be seen if Williams will suit up and show why the Lakers made the mistake of getting cold feet after the trade. The good news is that he has re-joined the Hornets and flew with the team to Los Angeles. His status at the moment, though, is still probable.
Lakers superstars' status for Hornets tiff revealed
Perhaps what Charlotte is preparing for is whether LeBron James and Luka Doncic will play.
Doncic's condition has already been divulged by Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who said that his new superstar will be on a minutes restriction, which will be lifted after the Hornets tiff.
The Slovenian phenom missed his last 19 contests as a Dallas Maverick before sitting out three more matches following his trade to Los Angeles. He then took the floor in the Purple and Gold's back-to-back against the Utah Jazz before the All-Star break, not reaching the 24-minute mark in either game.
It remains to be seen if Doncic will see more playing time against the Hornets, as they might have to rely on him more with James questionable to suit up.
The four-time MVP earned some folks' ire when he announced at the last minute that he would sit out the All-Star Game to focus on his health and the Lake Show's potential playoff run. No one would have batted an eye had James given the league enough time to find an injury replacement. But for some reason, he thought it would be best for his squad, Team Shaq, to be one man short in the tournament-style competition.
In the end, it really didn't matter because Team Shaq prevailed, with hometown hero Stephen Curry bringing home the MVP trophy.
It seems the Lakers want to give James an extra day of rest, especially since they would be flying from Los Angeles sometime after their face-off against the Hornets to take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday. There are speculations that he will also watch that contest from the sidelines to get ready for a marquee matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
But before the meetings against the Blazers and Nuggets, the Lakers might need to brace for a tough challenge from Charlotte, who must have a bone to pick with them on Wednesday.