James will be re-evaluated next week after sustaining an ankle sprain in Sunday’s come-from-behind victory over the Mavericks.
The latest injury status of LeBron James
LeBron James, who was holding his right foot after going down in the third quarter on Sunday’s game, was overheard on the team’s microphones saying, “I heard a pop.” Fortunately, it appeared the Los Angeles Lakers would avoid disaster.
Lakers’ star got back up and helped his team pull off an incredible comeback, beating the Dallas Mavericks 111-108 on the road.
“I heard it pop, yeah, it popped too.”
Nooooooooo!!!!
LeBron fearing he may have popped his left ankle! pic.twitter.com/1FbBn7sjwK
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (IG:twdbk3) (@sluggahjells) February 26, 2023
At the start of the final quarter, LeBron hit a 3-pointer and a layup. After receiving some time off to nurse his injured foot, he came back for the final 6 minutes and 49 seconds of the game.
He played for 37 minutes, scored 26 points (10 of 23 FG), grabbed eight boards, and dished out three assists.
After that, Darvin Ham shared some positive news about LeBron:
“He’s good. Our medical people are looking at him right now. He’ll get reevaluated again in the morning. And so once we get some type of official word tomorrow, we’ll go from there. But, as of right now, he’s good.”
Meanwhile, LeBron said his foot has “been better,” and he plans to keep an eye on it over the next few days. After the game, his limp was obvious.
“It’s been better. But I definitely wasn’t going to locker room and not finish the game. The importance of this game and then the momentum that we had, I felt like we could steal one after being down.”
LeBron walking gingerly after the game
(Via @townbrad) pic.twitter.com/LRq4np1DOe
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 27, 2023
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Lakers will travel to play the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder. I wouldn’t be surprised if LeBron rested in Memphis due to the relative importance of the game against OKC in the standings. On Friday, they’ll be back in Los Angeles to host the Minnesota Timberwolves.
For weeks now, LeBron’s other foot has been bothering him. His condition has already forced him to sit out a number of games and is likely to continue into the offseason.