Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James shed light on the state of his unspecified ankle/foot injury, which has lingered since December and has caused him to miss a handful of games, including the three prior to Wednesday's win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
LeBron had an MRI last week on what the Lakers have consistently labeled as “left ankle soreness” — he has been listed as questionable or out on every injury report for weeks — which thankfully did not reveal any structural damage.
“Absolutely,” LeBron said when asked if the result of the imaging was a relief. “Just knowing there was no structural damage. No stress reaction, no stress fracture, no bone chips, breaks, anything like that. It was just something that happened, just wear down. … I was able to not stress it as much because I was not able to play the last three games…
“My ankle and my foot feels really good right now. So it's a good start.”
LeBron James provides a detailed update on the state of his ankle/foot injury: pic.twitter.com/fzk3ds3Jkx
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) February 16, 2023
Darvin Ham previously described the issue as simple “wear and tear”, which was possibly exacerbated by the heavy minutes LeBron James played on the team's recent East Coast road trip. Ham admitted that he was concerned about running the 38-year-old “into the ground.”
Fortunately, LeBron's first game back since breaking the all-time scoring record (after which he spent crunch time massaging his foot on the bench) went about as well as Ham could imagine. LeBron had his lowest minute total of the season (29), while Anthony Davis (28/10/5) and the new-look roster around them carried the Lakers to a comfy win heading into the All-Star break.
Ham said the Lakers had a “hard stop” at 30 minutes for LeBron and credited their newfound depth and versatility for enabling him to manage LeBron and AD's load.
Even though LeBron will be the center of the action in Salt Lake City this weekend, he's looking forward to having eight days to recuperate before the next real game.
“It's amazing. It's great,” LeBron James said about the midseason hiatus. “I didn't want to have to take off the three games, but my foot and ankle just wasn't allowing me to go out and compete … It's going to be very beneficial to myself. I know I got a game on Sunday, but we don't play again until Thursday. It'll be great for not only me, but the rest of the group as well.”
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