LeBron James sidelined indefinitely due to foot injury

Los Angeles Lakers star James LeBron will miss Tuesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a right foot injury. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the player will likely be out indefinitely.

The Lakers announced James’s status for the game against the Grizzlies on Monday. The 19-time All-Star then posted a picture of his bandaged foot on his Instagram story with the caption “F*n sucks!!!!” in response to the injury news.

The Lakers also revealed that starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, who missed the recent Dallas Mavericks game due to a sprained right ankle, is questionable for the Memphis game.

The Lakers beat the Mavericks 111-108 on Sunday despite falling behind by 27 points, with LeBron suffering a foot injury in the third quarter.

Brad Townsend

2023-02-27 00:25

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LeBron was hurt in a non-contact incident. He left the arena with a noticeable limp. The 38-year-old returned to the court later, scoring 26 points and grabbing eight rebounds. “It’s been better,” LeBron said after the game.

James said he didn’t want to go and miss the rest of the game, indicating the significance of the game. The player, who averages 29.5 points per game and doesn’t want to miss the playoffs for a second year in a row, said at the All-Star break earlier this month that the Lakers’ final stretch of games this season would be some of the most crucial games he has played.

Head coach Darvin Ham told reporters that James looked good after the game. However, per Charania, the Lakers are preparing for James’ absence to last for multiple weeks because he will likely get multiple opinions on his injury. The team’s doctors said they would “monitor James’ foot for the next few days, see how it felt,” and “go from there.”

The Lakers are 12th in the Western Conference and must make a run to make the playoffs. On Monday, they were one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans, currently ranked 10th in Western Conference.

They trailed the Mavericks by 1.5 games. Dallas is in sixth place and had the last guaranteed spot in the playoffs. The Lakers, with their 29-32 record, have 21 games left on their schedule.