Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James pulled out of Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies and is reportedly out indefinitely with a right leg injury.
The Lakers announced James’ status for the game against the Grizzlies on Monday. It is reported by Shams Charania from Athletic. that there is concern that he is “likely to miss an extended period of time” due to the injury.
James reacted to the injury news on Instagram by posting a picture of his bandaged leg with the caption, “F*n sucks!!!!”.
James injured his leg in the third quarter of Sunday’s 111–108 win over the Dallas Mavericks that gave the Lakers 27 points. ESPN cameras and microphones recorded James stating “I heard a bang” after a non-contact injury where he clutched his leg in pain.
He returned to finish the game with 26 points and eight rebounds in the win. After the game, he limped into the American Airlines Center.
Head coach Darwin Ham told reporters after the game that James was “good” but that he should be re-evaluated on Monday.
“He’s good,” Lakers coach Darwin Ham. said Sunday. “Our medics are examining him right now, and we will re-examine him in the morning.”
The extent of what Monday’s assessment showed was not immediately clear. The injury will require multiple opinions, and the Lakers are bracing for James’ absence to last “several weeks.” Charania Reports.
Big blow to Lakers playoff hopes
The injury comes at a difficult time for the Lakers, who are looking to move up from No. 12 in the West and make the playoffs. As of Monday, they were one game behind the 10th-place New Orleans Pelicans, who would have received the last seed in the West’s game if the season ended today.
They were 1.5 games behind the Mavericks, who controlled a sixth-place finish and last guaranteed playoff berth in a crowded race in the West that will see 13 teams vie for eight playoff berths during the regular season. The Lakers are 29-32 with 21 games left on the schedule.
Last week at the All-Star Game James called stretching “The 23 most important games of my regular season career.” It turns out that he can miss a significant part of them.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
