The Lakers hold a 32-20 record and are in fifth place in the Western Conference and are looking to move up in the standings in the days and weeks to come. They won 12 of their last 15 games leading into the All-Star break. Charlotte has the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 13-39 and has lost 11 of its last 13 contests.

Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James – 40 points, 4 3PM, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 11 TOs Second career game of 40+ PTS as a 40-year-old There have been 3 such games in history, LeBron – 2; Jordan – 1 Austin Reaves – 32 points,

In between the original trade and the the take-back, the Hornets had already traded for another center, Jusef Nurkic from the Suns.

One of the more puzzling parts of the trade deadline earlier this month was when the Lakers announced that their trade to acquire big man Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets was rescinded just 48 hours after it was announced.

The 23-year-old center has finally addressed the rescinded trade and failed physical ahead of the Lakers matchup.