LeBron James Injury Update: Evaluated Wednesday, May Be Out Until February

LeBron James Frank Vogel Lakers press conference

Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James

Will LeBron James be coming back to the NBA court any time soon?

James went down with a groin injury in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’  Christmas Day win over the Golden State Warriors.

He met with trainers on the court, appeared to tell them he “felt it pop” and then headed to the locker room without assistance.

Since his injury, the Los Angeles Lakers are 3-7 in their last 10 games and are tied with the Utah Jazz for eighth place in the Western Conference standings.

James underwent an MRI the following day and wrote on Twitter he “dodged a bullet.”

If you’re LeBron James, do you rush back to play to save your team? Tomorrow, you may get that answer.

He’ll be re-evaluated.

Last week, the Lakers released a statement revealing that James has been cleared to “increase on-court functional basketball movements.” It also states that there will be an update provided on Wednesday, January 16. This means LeBron is out at least through the latter part of next week, but it now seems that timeline could be optimistic.

As I reported last week via Heavy.com, James’ injury is more complex than originally thought.

A Lakers source stated that James could be out “until the end of February, or even longer.”

“LeBron could ‘rush back’ and return at the end of January,” a source told me via text message on Friday.

“But he could very well be out until the end of February, or even longer.”

Per CBS: LeBron James still isn’t participating in full-court drills, LeBron increased his workload during Tuesday’s shootaround.

Lakers coach Luke Walton said he thinks the team will hear positive news after James is re-examined.

“I’m optimistic about life,” said Lakers head coach, Luke Walton.

“So yes, that would be covered in that … I think we’ll get good news back.”

Walton said he was “encouraged” by James’ participation in some parts of Tuesday’s workout.

“[James] does a lot of [running] when we’re not here,” Walton said. “I don’t know the [exact] amount of running he’s doing. I just know he seems to be in good spirits. He’s got another test tomorrow to get some more information on it.”

Walton said he was “encouraged” by James’ participation in some parts of Tuesday’s workout.

“[James] does a lot of [running] when we’re not here,” Walton said. “I don’t know the [exact] amount of running he’s doing. I just know he seems to be in good spirits. He’s got another test tomorrow to get some more information on it.”

Los Angeles signed James to a four-year, $153.3 million contract in July.

James is averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 34.6 minutes per game this season.

The Lakers play the Chicago Bulls tonight in Los Angeles.