LeBron James expected to miss time with groin injury in major Lakers blow
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James suffered a groin injury during the team’s 111-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.The injury occurred in the fourth quarter when James appeared to tweak his groin while making a move on offense.
He immediately grimaced in pain and exited the game with 6:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, heading straight to the locker room.According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, early indications suggest James will be out for “weeks, not days,” as the Lakers await further medical evaluations to determine the severity of the strain.“It is too early to project an accurate timetable for how long LeBron James could miss because of his left groin injury, sources told ESPN.
However, one source said the initial thought is that it will sideline James for a matter of weeks, not a matter of days,” McMenamin reported on X.He later added that, “LeBron James said his mind immediately went to his groin injury Christmas Day 2018 when he felt a pop in his groin and missed significant time.
James said he does not believe this injury is as bad as that one, and then knocked on the wooden locker behind him to not jinx it.”James memorably did injure his groin during his first season with the Lakers in 2018-19, which led to 17 missed games and the Lakers going 5-12, eventually leading to a summer trade for Anthony Davis.James and the Lakers were fourth in the Western Conference at the time of his injury and later fell out of playoff contention.He played a career-low 55 games at the time after having never played fewer than 69 games in a full 82-game season.This current setback comes at a crucial time for the Lakers, who are battling for playoff positioning in a competitive Western Conference.As of their loss to Boston, the Lakers are 40-22 and third in the Western Conference — a 1/2-game behind the second-seeded Denver Nuggets — and had won eight straight games before Saturday’s loss.At 40 years old, James has constantly defied...