LeBron James played through a sore foot in chasing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record and as soon as he broke the record he sat out three games in a row to rest it. He only played half of the All-Star Game (while that was officially for a finger injury nobody expected him to play a full game beforehand). He was clearly bothered by his foot while putting up 26 points Sunday against the Mavericks in a key Lakers win, then limped out of the arena after the game and had already been ruled out for their next game on Tuesday against Memphis.
Now comes a report LeBron could be out much longer than that, via Shams Charania of The Athletic.
James miraculously played through the injury that is now expected to require multiple opinions, sources said, and the Lakers are bracing for his absence to be multiple weeks. https://t.co/zuovQ2wVzc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 28, 2023
There has been no official word from LeBron or the Lakers, however, he did post this on his Instagram story Monday afternoon.
From LeBron’s Instagram story just now pic.twitter.com/lBlcIeWK7J
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) February 27, 2023
The phrasing that he “miraculously” played through the injury hints Charania got this from LeBron’s camp. This is not a player prone to sitting out, LeBron has missed remarkably few games in his 20-year career and prepares himself physically as well or better than any player in the league, but at age 38 things catch up with everyone.
The Lakers, battling to get back into the postseason with an improved roster after the trade deadline, can ill afford an extended LeBron absence. He is playing at an All-NBA level this season averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. More importantly, they outscore opponents by 4 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court but get outscored by 7.2 when he sits. The Lakers are 5-9 in games LeBron has missed this season.
