NEW YORK — As he suspected postgame Saturday night, early indications are LeBron James avoided a serious injury to his left groin muscle, according to a person close to the situation not authorized to discuss it publicly.
James, who left Saturday’s loss to the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter, said postgame that he didn’t believe the injury to be as serious as the one he suffered in 2018 when he missed more than a month after hearing his groin muscle pop.
As of Sunday morning afternoon, there were no signs that James’ initial assessment, when he said there was “not much concern,” is inaccurate, though even minor groin injuries can take more than a week to heal.
According to people close to the situation, no decision on a timetable has been made other than to monitor the injury on a daily basis. The injury will almost certainly, though, cost him a significant chunk of missed games with the Lakers facing a compressed stretch of schedule during the next two weeks when they play eight times in the next 14 days starting Monday at Brooklyn.
If James were to return after two weeks, there would be 12 games remaining in the regular season.
James missed 17 games with a groin injury his first season with the Lakers in 2018, and Saturday, he said his mind initially flashed to that point before focusing on Anthony Davis, who was injured in his first game with Dallas last month.
“The first thing that popped into my mind was Christmas Day my first year with the Lakers. … I’ve been there before and I know what type of injury you’re dealing with. Second thing I thought about was AD. It’s crazy. I thought about AD,” James said. “And then I’m over there just trying to see how much mobility and see if I can possibly give it a go. And I came back here and did a couple of stretches and a couple of things that ultimately knew that I was probably going to be done for the rest of the night.”
James reiterated that he didn’t think this injury was nearly as serious.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum knocks the ball loose from Lakers forward LeBron James during a game Saturday in Boston.
(Mark Stockwell / Associated Press)
He’s played 58 games this season for the Lakers, averaging 25 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists. Players must play at least 65 games to be eligible for end-of-season awards.
The Lakers are currently in third place in the West.
“Hopefully it’s nothing,” Luka Doncic said. “Obviously to get injured at this time, those injuries are — I don’t want to say the worst, but they are tough to deal with. So, just take his time and we got to have as a team a next-man-up mentality.”
Injuries, though, are mounting. Rui Hachimura is progressing to a return from his knee injury, but he’ll miss at least the next three games with his next evaluation set following the current road trip. Jaxson Hayes, who suffered a knee contusion after hyperextending his knee in the Lakers win against the Knicks, missed the game against Boston as well.