The 18-time All-Star addressed playing in the team’s next game against the Kings.
After suffering a groin injury against the Clippers on Wednesday, Lakers star LeBron James addressed playing in the team’s Friday game against the Kings.
“I’ll go around [the clock] treatment for 24 hours, and if it’s O.K. on Friday, I’ll be in the lineup,” he said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
James suffered the injury in the fourth quarter while attempting to land a shot in Los Angeles’s eventual 114–101 loss to their crosstown rivals, with the team citing left leg soreness. The four-time NBA champion once suffered a groin tear in his left leg that sidelined him for multiple straight games.
With more than five minutes left to play, the 18-time All-Star left the court and did not return. Team doctors are set to evaluate James on Thursday and “administer medical imaging on his groin to determine the extent of the injury,” per McMenamin.
“I didn’t do anything extraneous on the play,” James said. “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.”
James tore his left groin in the 2018–19 season, missing 17 games from December to January as a result. However, James pointed out that the discomfort level he has now compared to the 2018 injury is “not as bad.”
The Lakers (2–9) will look to rebound from the loss against 4–6 Sacramento. Currently, LeBron’s squad sits at No. 14 in the Western Conference only ranked higher than the Rockets.
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