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 project 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.