As if things couldn't get any more worrisome for the 2-9 Los Angeles Lakers, the ailments keep racking up for LeBron James.
Midway through the fourth quarter of his team's 114-101 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday — the Lakers' ninth straight loss to the Clips — LeBron aggravated his groin injury and was forced to come out of the game.
In his postgame remarks, LeBron expressed hope that he can play Friday vs. the Sacramento Kings but said he wouldn't know until more imaging is done. On a relatively positive note, he said the injury was “not as bad” as the groin tear he suffered against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas 2018, which derailed his first season with the Lakers.
“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 I didn't do anything extraneous on the play. Just when I landed, I felt a little spasm or strain in my groin. So immediately I had to come out after that on the next play down when I went to the free throw line.
“I'll go around (the clock) treatment for 24 hours, and if it's OK on Friday, I'll be in the lineup,” he added.
LeBron was asked how he'll balance managing the injury with the necessity for the Lakers to, you know, win basketball games.
“I mean, in order for you to be productive for your teammates, you have to take care of your body,” he said. “And I don't mean extract yourself from the game of basketball. You can always be thinking about what you could do better.”
Here were LeBron’s comments on his groin injury pic.twitter.com/RAoOodJAnS
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) November 10, 2022
LeBron, 37, has already dealt with a handful of maladies early into his 20th NBA season, as he has in each year with the Lakers. Last week, he was mostly bedridden with a non-COVID illness. He has been a constant on the injury report with left foot soreness, which caused him to miss the second leg of the Lakers' recent back-to-back.
After shootaround on Wednesday, he said the only way his foot will heal is with rest, which is out of the question at the moment. (This was the same problem he faced with a knee injury last season.) LeBron said how he manages future back-to-backs is TBD.
As for the reeling Lakers, head coach Darvin Ham said a prospective LeBron injury just adds to the struggle.
“I mean it's just a lot of adversity,” said Ham. “LeBron has been trying his heart out just to be there for us and play at a high level. I thought he had it going really, really well tonight. But it just is something that it's the NBA season, man. You got to be ready for a little bit of everything. We'll see once he gets evaluated, and we'll be ready to move forward.”
Anthony Davis, who had 21 points and nine boards against the Clips, acknowledged that he'll have to carry a more substantial scoring load should his running mate miss time.
“For me, the mindset switches to just going out, being aggressive and trying to find ways to help the team win — whether it's more shots or know it's my job to make these guys better. It's my job anyway. But it's heightened when someone like LeBron is out with everything he can do on the floor.”
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