The Los Angeles Lakers entered Saturday’s marquee battle with the Boston Celtics riding an eight-game winning streak, but they walked away having lost more than just the game. With 6:44 remaining in the fourth quarter, LeBron James exited the game while the Lakers made progress on their attempted 22-point comeback, but he did not return. He was ruled out for the game with a left groin strain, and now, according to ESPN, he is expected to miss at least the next one to two weeks. He will be re-evaluated in 24 hours when the injury calms down.
James took an optimistic tone when asked about his level of concern in his postgame media availability. “Not much concern,” he said after the game. “Obviously I’m day-to-day. I’ll look at it each day and see if it gets better. We’ll take the proper measures to see what we need to do moving forward.” If James can indeed return in a week or two, that should be treated as a win for the Lakers given how much more destructive a worse strain could have been.
LeBron James injury: How the Lakers can survive the next few weeks without the face of the league
Sam Quinn
The injury came as James drove to the basket against Jaylen Brown. He attempted a spin move and followed that up with two head fakes, eventually converting the layup. James had a slight limp after the score, but attempted to play defense on the next possession.
On the ensuing trip down the floor, Brown drove for a quick layup and James visibly pointed to the bench to ask to be removed from the game.
“The last score I had on Jaylen Brown, probably extended it a little bit too much,” James said after the game. “A couple pivots and then when I landed I felt it.”
Groin strains can be tricky injuries. James, notably, suffered a tear in his left groin on Christmas of 2018 in a game against the Golden State Warriors which wound up derailing his season, but he said that one felt much worse than the one on Saturday night. In November of 2022, he exited a game against the Los Angeles Clippers with another groin injury, and he ultimately missed five games as he recovered. The severity of the strain will go a long way in determining how much time this injury potentially costs James.
The Lakers have thrived lately, and while the Luka Dončić acquisition has been a significant part of that, James has been the team’s catalyst. The Lakers had gone 18-3 in their previous 21 games entering Saturday, and James averaged 27.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists in that span on very strong efficiency while playing excellent defense. Now the Lakers will have to adjust to life without him for the time being.
