Darvin Ham says LeBron James’ foot/ankle is ‘good,’ but he will continue to be evaluated

Midway through a win over the Dallas Mavericks that will go down as one of their best victories of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers got a bit of a scare when LeBron James fell to the ground and grabbed his right foot/ankle area, and appeared to be yelling “I heard a pop” when lip reading from the broadcast.

James stayed in the game after getting treatment from his trainer Mike Mancias — and made several key plays down the stretch for the Lakers despite looking a bit limited physically — but it was a nervy moment for anyone who is hoping for a playoff push from this group.

Here is video of the moment, for those with a morbid curiosity:

James has been on the injury report with either “left ankle soreness” or “left foot soreness” for the last 40 games, but this was pretty clearly an issue with his right foot or ankle, so it’s a new malady seemingly unrelated to that one.

However, after the game, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is “good” to go.

For his part, James says he has “been better,” but it doesn’t sound like he anticipates missing a bunch of time, either:

It would be a bit of a shock if James is not at least listed as questionable for the Lakers’ next game on Tuesday at the Memphis Grizzlies, given the likelihood that this apparent soft-tissue injury will stiffen up overnight. After that, the Lakers will play on Wednesday at the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back before getting Thursday off ahead of their Friday homecoming vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves.

If James does miss any time, look for Jarred Vanderbilt to get more minutes at both forward slots, as well as more on-ball creation duties for Dennis Schröder and Austin Reaves, in addition to Anthony Davis (and obviously D’Angelo Russell, if he returns from his own ankle injury). It’s possible Wenyen Gabriel may also get back into that rotation in such a scenario, if only to get one extra larger, rangy body on the floor.

Clearly, none of those guys can make up for not having LeBron James, but those are the team’s options if he does miss a game or two. But whatever the case may be, we will keep you posted here at Silver Screen and Roll on the latest developments and updates as they are provided.

This breaking news story may be updated with more information as it continues to develop. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.