The Los Angeles Lakers received some great news about the injured groin of their star, LeBron James.
On Christmas Day, the Los Angeles Lakers were playing in the biggest game of the day against the Golden State Warriors. With this being the first matchup between LeBron James on the Lakers against the defending champions, there was certainly a big game feel.
The Lakers got off to a strong start against the Warriors with LeBron leading the way, but we saw him go down in the third quarter with a groin injury. Cameras picked up LeBron saying that he heard a pop when talking to trainers after the injury.
James went to the locker room and never returned. As expected, the Warriors made a run in the third quarter after James left. However, the Lakers really responded well with their best players, as they were able to hold the lead and then extend it.
While getting a win on Christmas against the Warriors was a big deal for the Lakers, any celebration was limited because of the status surrounding James. On Wednesday, James underwent an MRI and got very good news.
UPDATE: LeBron James will not travel with the team to Sacramento for tomorrow's game against the Kings.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 26, 2018
He will be listed as day-to-day moving forward. https://t.co/8maL1EKDew
Even though Christmas was yesterday, getting the news that LeBron’s MRI was clean was likely one of the best gifts that Lakers fans could have received. Prior to leaving James was putting up some ridiculous stats for the Lakers against the Warriors. In 21 minutes, James totaled 17 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists.
So far this season, James is playing at an MVP level once again, as he is averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game. Seeing that James will be back soon is great news for the Lakers. While he has been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, he is officially listed as day-to-day.
James has been an extremely durable player over the course of his career, and the Lakers are hoping that he can continue that with them. While he won’t play every game this season after he misses the game against the Kings, its great news that he won’t miss extended time.