As you've surely heard by now, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will miss one to two weeks (at least) with what the team is calling a “rectus abdominis strain” — an upper ab injury.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported that LeBron aggravated his abdomen during the Lakers' win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday at Staples Center. Despite the fact that he was seen heading off the court at one point to stretch in the tunnel, LeBron returned to score 10 consecutive points and lead the Lakers to a tight victory, then made no mention of the ailment in his postgame remarks.
(The Lakers did not have post-practice media availability on Wednesday, so we didn't hear an update from the team on LeBron's status until the surprise revision to the injury report on Thursday morning, which ruled James out for the home matchup vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.)
Thanks to some nifty work by folks on Lakers Twitter, we can pinpoint where James may have suffered the injury. As @GoldenKnightGFX pointed out, James took a charge on a hard drive from Rockets rookie Jalen Green with six-and-a-half minutes remaining. LeBron didn't show much aggravation at the moment, but he did hit the tunnel soon after to stretch.
Here’s the charge LeBron took before he headed to the tunnel:
— GoldenKnight (@GoldenKnightGFX) November 4, 2021
As ClutchPoints contributor Nicole Gangliani noted, James could be seen with ice wrapped around his torso during his postgame remarks:
https://twitter.com/nicoleganglani/status/1456343168597716992
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, LeBron could possibly play through the injury for a playoff game. This early in the season, though, Los Angeles is going to be extra-cautious with the soon-to-be-37-year-old, 19-year veteran.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel will address the media about 90 minutes prior to the Lakers-Thunder tip-off.
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