The Los Angeles Lakers have released an update regarding injured star LeBron James.

The player, who has been down since tweaking his groin during a match against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, is progressing and doing more on-court work. However, he will be out until at least January 16.

The team had previously announced that the player was set for evaluation this week. And, having undergone, it has been determined that he will be out until the aforementioned date for the earliest, and will be re-evaluated then.

PREVIOUSLY: KYRIE IRVING ADMITS PLAYING BEHIND LeBRON JAMES WAS A REAL CHALLENGE

via stadiumastro.com

A statement on the team's official website reads: "LeBron James was evaluated by team medical staff and physicians today. The healing of James’ groin injury is progressing and James has been cleared to increase on-court functional basketball movements. A further update will be provided on January 16."

The Lakers have gone 3-5 without James this season but have beaten both the Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons in their last two games, ahead of what should be a hefty challenge against the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

LeBron will definitely be out against the Jazz, as well as his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Chicago Bulls in the coming days. He could potentially return to action for the side's clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 17.

Luke Walton's troops had a good thing going with James in the side and even managed to beat the defending champions without him for the entire second half of their Christmas special. Since then, though, the head coach has found himself under immense pressure and has been receiving heavy criticism, with fans calling for his firing.

What This Means

LeBron is having a great season, as he usually does, having averaged 27.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game before going down with the groin injury.

The former Cleveland Cavaliers superstar has transformed the Lakers into a contender but they will need to have to cope better in his absence as it's possible he gets injured again sometime down the line.

Of course, he's pretty durable and has hardly had to go through injury spells over the course of his career. However, he isn't getting any younger.

NEXT: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNPO DOESN'T THINK HE'S AN MVP JUST YET