The Los Angeles Lakers came dangerously close to having their Christmas turned upside down. In the third quarter of their matchup with the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James suffered a groin injury that resulted in him leaving the game. NBA fans that were watching their TV screens closely could see James mouth the words “I felt a pop.”
Now I’m no doctor, but if I had to a guess it’s probably not a good sign if your groin is making a popping sound. Searching the internet for answers isn’t always the best route to go either:
Looking shit up on WebMD is always a bad idea.
— Laker Film Room (@LakerFilmRoom) December 26, 2018
Luckily, it seems as though James is going to be alright. An initial exam on James reportedly revealed no structural damage to his groin, just a strain.
As for James himself, he told reporters on Spectrum SportsNet that he’s not the least bit worried about his injury:
“With me, with injuries, I’m never too concerned about them. I was able to walk off under my own power. I felt a pop and tried to see if i could stretch it a few times if it’d relieve, but it didn’t.”
Since entering the league in 2003, James has been the model for health in the NBA almost every season. In fact, there’s only been two seasons in his 16-year career where James has played less than 70 games. Last season, he played a full 82-game season, plus an additional 22 games in the postseason.
It’s for that reason James is more annoyed than anything about this setback, which could keep him sidelined for a few days:
“I take a lot of pride in it, so that is why it pissed me off not being able to go back into the game. It’s more than anything being available to my teammates, being available to my coaching staff, that is something I take more personal than anything. So hopefully, it’s not a long thing and I can get back on the floor as soon as possible.”
Not having James would be a huge loss for the Lakers, especially because they just started taking guys off their injury report, but it’s more important that he’s healthy for the dog days of the NBA regular season.
James will undergo an MRI on Wednesday. We’ll have a better idea of what’s next for the Lakers then.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.