According to Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, an MRI on Thursday revealed that LeBron James has a strained left adductor. He will be day-to-day moving forward and will be listed as doubtful on the injury report for Friday's home game against the Sacramento Kings.
LeBron left the Lakers' loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night midway through the fourth quarter after seemingly injuring his groin (an adductor is a group of muscles in the inner thigh region). Afterward, he said the injury was “not as bad” as the groin tear he suffered on Christmas Day, 2018, which derailed his and the Lakers' season.
“How do I feel right now? I feel good. Besides the injury,” LeBron said. “We'll get pictures on it tomorrow and go from there. But didn't do anything extreme on the play. Just, when I landed, I felt a little spasm or strain in my groin. So immediately had to come out after that.”
Here were LeBron’s comments on his groin injury pic.twitter.com/RAoOodJAnS
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) November 10, 2022
The MRI confirmed that James did not tear anything, per Ham.
“It’s not torn, that’s the biggest thing, that he didn’t tear anything. So it was good news. You know, I’m sure it’s painful. Doubtful, day-to-day, whatever – I’m just happy there wasn’t anything torn.”
The Lakers will host the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday then enjoy five days off before facing the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 18 at Crypto.com Arena. With that in mind, it's easy to envision LeBron sitting out through the weekend, thereby giving him eight days off to recuperate.
"I’m told the expectation is James will be out the next two Lakers games … The Lakers also (recently) held free-agent workouts with Joe Wieskamp and Tony Snell.”
NBA Insider @ShamsCharania has the latest on LeBron James’ status and the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/ZmCNqqI9dq
— The Rally (@TheRally) November 11, 2022
The soon-to-be-38-year-old has dealt with left foot soreness all season, which he said would only heal with extended rest. LeBron recently got over a week-long bout with a non-COVID virus that severely hampered his energy.
On the other hand, with the Lakers toiling at 2-9, they can ill afford their best player to miss time.
“I mean, in order for you to be productive for your teammates, you have to take care of your body,” LeBron said when asked how he'll balance injury management with the team's dire situation.
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