Two things immediately popped into Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James‘s mind the moment he suffered the groin strain that kept him out of the final 6:44 of their 111-101 loss to their arch-rivals Boston Celtics on Saturday, March 8.
“The first thing that popped into my mind was Christmas day, my first year here [with the Lakers],” James told reporters. “I’ve been there before and I know what type of injury I’m dealing with.”
That was a nightmare of a season for James, who missed 17 games which ultimately crushed the Lakers’ playoff hopes during the 2018-19 season. The Lakers were fourth in the Western Conference at the time of James’ injury. Without him, a young Lakers team back then went 5-12.
But James is confident that his second groin injury “isn’t as bad” as the first one.
“The second thing I thought about was [Anthony Davis],” James continued. “It’s crazy, but I thought about AD and then I’m over there just trying to see how much mobility and see if I can give it a go. I came back here and did a couple stretches and a couple of things that ultimately told me that I was probably going to be done for the rest of the night.”
James was referring to Davis’ adductor strain during his Dallas Mavericks debut on Feb. 8 that has already caused his former running mate to miss 11 games and still counting.
The Lakers were trailing by only four, 96-92, when James stretched on the bench and attempted to return.
Without James, the Celtics went on a 9-3 run to restore their double-digit lead and cruised to the victory against their arch-rivals.
“That was very frustrating not being out there,” James said. “That’s the moment you live for especially in a game like this.”
Bad News for Lakers
Austin Reaves, who just played his second game after recovering from a calf strain, expressed concern about James.
“You never want to see one of your brothers have to leave the game due to injury,” Reaves told reporters. “He’s a huge part of what we do so hopefully we get some good news and he gets back quick.”
However, Reaves and the Lakers received bad news the day after.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Sunday, March 9, that James is expected to miss at least one to two weeks with a groin strain.
“James will wait for the groin injury to calm down over the next 24 hours and receive another evaluation,” Charania wrote on X.
It’s a crushing blow for the Lakers, who dropped to third place in the Western Conference after grabbing the second seed last week.
James is the Lakers’ leading scorer (25.0 points), rebounder (8.2 rebounds) and playmaker (8.5 assists). The Lakers were also missing starters Rui Hachimura (knee injury) and Jaxson Hayes (knee contusion).
Hachimura will at least one more week while Hayes’ injury isn’t considered serious, Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters before the game.
Redick is hopeful Hayes could return at some point in their four-game road trip.
Luka’s Message to LeBron
James’ absence puts more pressure on Luka Dončić and Reaves.
Dončić is averaging 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.8 steals, since joining the Lakers via the shocking midseason trade.
Reaves is averaging 18.8 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds. But he’s still getting his rhythm back after a two-game absence due to his calf injury.
Against the Celtics, Reaves had 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting with three rebounds and two assists. It was a much better performance than his eight-point on 2-of-13 clunker in his first game back from the injury.
Dončić led the Lakers with 34 points, seven rebounds and three assists but he was minus-19. James finished with a near triple-double (22 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists) but he was minus-11 in the game they lost in the third quarter where the Celtics outscored them 29-13.
“Obviously, he will take his time,” Dončić said of James. “Those injuries are — I wouldn’t say they’re the worst but they’re — tough to deal with. So just take time.”
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