Darvin Ham did not provide a detailed update on the condition of LeBron James' debilitating right foot injury ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers' matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
The head coach said LeBron — who will be re-evaluated in two weeks but is expected to miss additional time after that — is undergoing an “diagnostic” medical evaluation.
“We'll wait and see what our people come back with,” he told reporters.
LeBron landed awkwardly on his right foot late in the third quarter of the Lakers' invigorating win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. After immediately saying he “heard a pop” and receiving treatment on the bench, LeBron powered his way to 11 fourth-quarter points as Los Angeles triumphed by three.
“He soldiered up,” Ham said about LeBron's efforts to finish the game. “That's the only thing I can think of.”
(Back in January, Ham admitted wariness over running the 38-year-old “into the ground.” At the time, it was known that LeBron was — and still is — dealing with lingering left foot/ankle soreness, but The Athletic reported Tuesday that LeBron has been simultaneously suffering from right foot soreness since then, too.)
“It’s been better. That’s for sure,” LeBron said after the Mavs bout before gingerly walking to the team bus. “But I definitely wasn’t going to go to the locker room and not finish the game out tonight. Just understood the importance of the game and then with the momentum that we had, I felt like we could still win after being down.”
As he's done throughout the Lakers' roller-coaster 2022-23 campaign, Ham struck an optimistic and resolute tone regarding the Lakers' aims to make the playoffs — and even climb into the No. 6 seed — despite LeBron missing a chunk of their remaining 21 games.
“We gotta continue to play the right way. We gotta continue to be together. And we gotta continue on with the mission. The mission hasn't changed for us,” he said in Memphis. “The goal of securing a playoff spot is still very much alive … We gotta step up and hold down the fort until Bron returns. … Full steam ahead.”
Entering Tuesday, the Lakers (29-32) are 0.5 games back of the final Play-In spot and 2.5 games back of the No. 6 seed.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles will likely be without D'Angelo Russell for both legs of their back-to-back vs. the Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Lakers are hopeful DLo can return to the lineup on Friday to face his ex-team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, at Crypto.com Arena.
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