A left groin injury that forced LeBron James to leave tonight’s game in Boston midway through the fourth quarter could sideline the Lakers star for “a matter of weeks,” according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
McMenamin’s sources caution that it’s too early to pinpoint a timeline for how long James might be out of action. He will undergo extensive testing to determine the extent of the damage before a final prognosis is made.
Speaking to reporters following the game, James seemed to downplay the injury, saying there’s “not much concern” about it, tweets Khobi Price of The Orange County Register.
“Look at it each day to see if it gets better,” he said. “Take the proper measurements [and] see what we need to do going forward.”
James added that when he felt the pain, he immediately thought of the groin injury he suffered on Christmas Day in 2018 that forced him to miss significant time, according to McMenamin (Twitter link). He said he doesn’t consider this injury to be as severe, then knocked on the wooden locker behind him to avoid jinxing his comment.
He appeared to get hurt while making a post move against Jaylen Brown with 7:05 left to play, according to Brian Robb of MassLive. James ran down the court gingerly on defense and called for a sub after the Celtics scored. He worked with the training staff during the subsequent time out, then headed for the locker room.
He finished the night with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists and was leading a Lakers comeback before being forced out of the game.
James has been remarkably productive and durable for a player who just turned 40 in December. He has appeared in 58 of L.A.’s 62 games and was averaging 25.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.5 assists coming into tonight. He seems like a lock for All-NBA honors, assuming he reaches the 65-game threshold.
A prolonged absence could be devastating for the Lakers, who have spent the last few weeks developing James’ on-court chemistry with Luka Doncic. L.A. slipped into third place in the West with tonight’s loss at Boston and could fall even further if the team has to survive multiple weeks without James.
This could impact Lakers chances…
Check out the big brains on Brad
Excuse me?
Lakers have been playing hyped-up, max effort defense since that Nuggets game, and it’s been great. But this is the price when you do that in the regular season, and this was only the first of a brutal series of back to backs. Expect more muscle injuries unless they dial it back down.
OneWay Wonder will save the day. Three step to the hoop. Lean in on defenders. Argue to try and kill clock. Score 30 and lose. Everything you want from your hero. ……..
Only 5 wks left to the season ………..
Sit down Spike
It’s ok dude…
The Lakers still have better chances than the Knicks…
Mute yourself
Can’t really complain about bad luck after, by some miracle, LeBron and AD (prior to the trade) had stayed pretty healthy the last two years. Father Time has come looking to collect.
To be fair, running back on D gingerly is still a step up from his usual effort
Luka Magic time, baby!
Luka gonna have to carry the team to a top 6 from 3rd in the West…
Tough job when he’s was also labouring in that game… Back issues by the looks of it…
Lakers are still the scariest non-contender in the West…
Carls Jr = 7 letters. If you go through the drive thru for seconds that’s 7 7. Just think about that and tell me there’s no nba conspiracy…
Well if Luka is their new spokesperson that is one hell of a weight to carry…
Very bland is the nicest way to put their burgers…
with 18 games left, can the currently 5 games back Warriors catch the Lakers? Anyone see any betting sites with odds for this? They play each other April 3, so that’s 1 full game swing, which would mean making up 4 games in 17…can it be done? Cant wait to see!
Never liked lebron, lucked into a cozy situation in miami & now again in LA
But give him alotta credit, almost 41 and still playing at an elite level, cant think of any athlete in any sport who played so well at his age except brady
Did he hurt it flopping?