Christmas Day NBA action once again proved to be must-watch television for any sports fan yesterday. One of the biggest games on the marquee was the contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were handed a rather shocking 127-101 home loss, especially after LeBron James left the game with an injury in the third quarter.
The good news is the Lakers proved they could win without James. The bad news is they're going to have to do just that. According to Yahoo Sports, the Lakers are expecting James to miss at least a few games to nurse his left groin injury. He underwent an MRI on Wednesday to learn the full extent of the ailment. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the MRI came back clean, and the Lakers forward will be day-to-day.
Sources have reported that the injury originally looked much worse than it actually is. During a timeout following the play, James could be seen saying, "I felt something pop."
"Obviously, we want him back soon as possible, but we also will be very cautious when we bring him back," said head coach Luke Walton.
James has yet to miss a game for his new team this season. In fact, King James has managed to steer clear of major injuries for a majority of his 16-year career. Being the competitor that he is, the three-time NBA champion says he might not even miss any games despite reports.
"I don’t know [if I’m going to miss a game]," said James. "We’re going to see what the MRI says, see how I feel the rest of the day today. I’m going to be around-the-clock tomorrow rehabbing and we’ll see how I feel on Thursday when we go to Sac."
This isn't the first instance of a superstar player dealing with groin problems this season. Stephen Curry was forced to miss three weeks earlier this season due to a groin issue. For the sake of Lakers Nation, hopefully LeBron's tweak is less severe. LeBron sure seems to think so.
