LeBron James is sporting an eye bandage for this Thursday’s semifinal match between Serbia and the United States. That’s not a huge surprise considering he suffered an injury in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.
During the United States’ victory over Brazil, James got hit in the eye with an inadvertent elbow. He went to the locker room and never returned to the floor.
After Team USA dismantled Brazil in the quarterfinals, James downplayed the severity of his injury.
“I’m OK,” James told reporters. “I just got hit with an inadvertent elbow.”
While the injury isn’t serious enough to keep James off the court this Thursday against Serbia, he clearly wants to ensure that he protects his left eye. After all, he doesn’t want his stitches to open up mid-game.
LeBron got four stitches after being hit near the left eye vs. Brazil pic.twitter.com/arKb5TeMBJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 6, 2024
So far, Serbia has looked very efficient on the offensive end against Team USA. They even jumped out to a 14-point lead in the second quarter.
When the United States faced Serbia in the group stage of this year’s Olympics, it didn’t really pull away until the second half of action. Kevin Durant and LeBron James led the charge with a combined 44 points.
If Team USA is going to make a comeback and advance to the gold medal match, James and the rest of the crew will need to step up in the second half.
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