Getty Lakers star LeBron James.
There’s a chance the Los Angeles Lakers will be without star LeBron James going forward after he re-aggravated his groin injury.
The Lakers have a back-to-back upcoming against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday on the road and then back at home against the Dallas Mavericks. With James not at full strength, the team is urging the star forward to take his latest setback seriously as they eye a title run.
“There are people within the Lakers organization that are already encouraging LeBron to take this injury very serious to make sure he’s 100% and not to push it,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported following the game. “Certainly there is a possibility we could see LeBron have more games that he has to miss coming up.”
James missed the Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets in advance of the Christmas Day showdown with the Clippers with what was being called a thoracic muscle strain and the nagging groin. James said it flared up against the Clippers after he took a knee from Patrick Beverly.
“I felt healthy going into the game,” James told reporters after the game. “I got kneed in the groin taking a charge from Pat Bev, and it kind of set me right back to where I was five days ago.”
LeBron James Still Playing at a High Level Despite Injury
James is still firmly in the MVP conversation and managed 23 points on 9-for-24 shooting, with 10 assists and 9 rebounds against the Clippers.
After allowing the Clippers to stage a second-half comeback where they rallied to outscore the Lakers 60-43, James said he hadn’t fully shifted his focus to the next game.
“To be honest, I haven’t even thought about Portland just yet,” James said after the game. “I’m always around the clock with my body, getting my treatment. If I’m feeling great, I’ll be in the lineup. If I’m feeling well, I’ll be in the lineup. … We’ll see what happens.”
The injury is particularly concerning for James considering that it was a groin injury on Christmas Day last year that derailed the Lakers’ season. And with the team now all-in with Anthony Davis on the roster, the team understands that LeBron is needed at full strength for the playoffs and not for a December matchup with the Clippers.
“It’s still another game,” forward Kyle Kuzma said. “We’re in December. We got a couple more months of basketball.”
Lakers Play Down Loss to Clippers
The Lakers would have liked to avenge their season opening loss to the Clippers, especially considering that it looked like they had it under control early. But at the end of the day, the Lakers aren’t sweating one game out of 82.
“Of course, we all wanted it,” veteran Lakers center Dwight Howard said. “I think everybody in L.A. that’s a Lakers fan wanted to see us win tonight. But like I told you guys a couple days ago, we want to be the best team in June. We want to be the team that’s holding up the trophy, and I think when we do that nobody will remember the game that we lost on Christmas.”
Lakers guard Rajon Rondo echoed those sentiments.
“Obviously these games count, but when we see them again, it’ll be another battle, and then obviously in the playoffs — it’s hard to talk about,” Rondo told The Athletic. “We got to get through so many different matchups and we obviously have to get there first. I don’t want to think about it too much.”
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