The Los Angeles Lakers are prepared to be without their main man, LeBron James, for a while, per a report from ESPN.
The superstar forward suffered a groin injury during the Christmas Day win against defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. And, while he is listed as day-to-day by the Lakers, they expect that he will miss several games as there is a healing process he must go through before returning.
It is also thought that the player's return could be complicated by the fact that he has never had to go through such a serious groin injury and needs to learn how treatment will affect his body.
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James, 33, has been extremely durable throughout his career and had played in 156 consecutive games before missing his side's game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night. The Lakers are now planning to be as careful and as patient as they can be with the player so he does not set himself back further.
"Although an MRI revealed LeBron James sidestepped serious injury, the All-NBA forward did suffer a significant left groin strain and the Los Angeles Lakers are preparing for him to miss several games, league sources told ESPN.
"The Lakers are calling James' absence "day-to-day," but sources told ESPN there is a healing process that needs to occur before James can return to the lineup.
"A timeline for James' return is further complicated by the fact that he has never had to navigate this severe of a groin injury and still needs to gain an understanding of how his body will respond to treatment. James has displayed a tremendous capacity throughout his career to avoid extended absences with injury, but sources expected the Lakers and James will be careful not to risk further aggravation of the groin by returning too quickly."
- Brian Windhorst & Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN
What This Means
This injury comes at a bad time for the Lakers, who had just begun picking up some momentum after their sluggish start to the season. They are now 20-15 after Thursday night's 117-116 loss to the Kings and will need some major production from the likes of Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma.
The pair scored 22 and 33 points, respectively, against their Western Conference counterparts on the night but will need to put in even more of an effort until LeBron returns to action.