LOS ANGELES — Whether April Fools’ Day jokes land can be a matter of taste.

Trying to make light of his injury situation, LeBron James landed squarely in this gray area on Friday morning.

The 37-year-old Lakers star might have shaken unsuspecting fans for a moment when he tweeted: “I’m out for the season officially,” he wrote. “See y’all in the fall.”

When he sent the tweet, James had missed two games with a sprained left ankle he suffered Sunday in New Orleans. While reports had circled that he was targeting Friday night’s rematch with the Pelicans for a return, the Lakers had not yet issued an official update for his health status, and he had returned early from the road trip for more rehab on his ankle.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, James missing time hasn’t been much of a laughing matter: The team is 6-15 when the four-time league MVP doesn’t play this season, and with the postseason on the line for the last few weeks, it might not have struck as a timely gag.

James’ joke might have ruffled a few feathers within the Lakers’ organization, one person told Southern California News Group. But at the very least, James didn’t catch his coach off-guard, Frank Vogel said.

“I was told simultaneously that it was an April Fools’ before I actually got word of it,” Vogel said. “But I would have guessed it would have been an April Fools’ if I hadn’t been told it was.”

James worked out Friday morning on court and was officially listed as questionable. While he flexed and stomped his left foot during his pregame workout while he dribbled and worked on his shots, James did eventually start in Friday’s game alongside All-Star big man Anthony Davis, who made his way back from an 18-game absence.

The Lakers had to get serious about other absences: Veteran forward Carmelo Anthony (13.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) missed the game with a non-COVID-related illness. The only detail Vogel revealed was that Anthony woke up the morning after the Lakers’ loss to the Utah Jazz with “chills,” and he did not join the team on the bench.

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Kendrick Nunn is now expected to miss the rest of the season with a right knee bone bruise, Yahoo Sports reported earlier this week. While the team has yet to affirm that report, Vogel has been increasingly resigned about Nunn’s unavailability with just five games remaining after Friday.

“I mean it’s just like every injury when you lose guys who can help you, it’s disappointing,” he said. “But injuries are a part of the game. Every team deals with them, so you can’t get too caught up in it.”

Maybe James was trying to keep from getting too caught up in his own availability on Friday – or maybe he wasn’t thinking much at all. With a tired laugh, Vogel declined to analyze James’ fake-out on Twitter.

“That’s up to you guys. I can’t,” he said. “I got too much on my mind to say whether that’s funny or not.”