Recent Lakers rumors are that LeBron James could miss time after re-aggravating a groin injury on Christmas Day.
With the New Year right around the corner, recent Lakers rumors aren’t very encouraging for the team. In the loss on Christmas Day to the Los Angeles Clippers, LeBron James took a shot to the groin that apparently re-aggravated a groin issue that he has been dealing with.
As everyone remembers from last Christmas, a groin injury for LeBron basically ended the Lakers’ season. However, this one is reportedly not related to what happened this season.
According to Dave McMenamin, the Lakers want LeBron to rest until his groin is back to 100 percent. Here’s what McMenamin said on ESPN.com
"Even though the Lakers are now riding a season-worst, four-game losing streak, several members of the organization already have approached James about the urgency to sit out and rehab his groin injury until he feels fully recovered, sources told ESPN."
With the Lakers now on a four-game losing streak, this is not an ideal time to have an injury to one of their two star players. James has been playing at an MVP level this season, and is a main reason why they have the best record in the Western Conference.
However, the Lakers have to be careful with LeBron in order to achieve their long-term goals. Even though they are on a bit of a slide, the Lakers are still very much title contenders in the Western Conference. Furthermore, if they want to reach those goals, they will need a healthy LeBron.
The Lakers will have the next couple of days off before they start a back-to-back over the weekend against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks. As we have seen when LeBron is off the court, the Lakers’ offense is not nearly as fun to watch. James gets the ball moving nicely, and the Lakers will have to rely heavily on Rajon Rondo to be the main facilitator if he misses time.
Hopefully James is able to recover quickly from this groin issue, as the Lakers need him in the lineup if they wish to stay on top of the Western Conference. However, the team should be very careful with James’ groin, as he isn’t a young kid anymore.