Following their first win of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers got their first taste of success — and they are hoping to continue that streak against the New Orleans Pelicans tonight.
While the Purple and Gold looked decent enough out of the gate, Lakers fans find themselves in a pit of disappointment following news of LeBron James’ latest injury scare.
In the first quarter against NOLA, James was seen off to the side, with his shoe off, in some pain before he was eventually taken out of the game. We don’t yet know the seriousness of James’ injury, whether it’s just a tweak or something more serious, but it doesn’t bode well for the Purple and Gold, who were counting on James to deliver another MVP-like season.
LeBron James is sitting to the side of the Lakers' huddle with his left shoe off. He's been battling left foot soreness. Appears to be in some pain.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) November 3, 2022
LeBron James is on the bench, asked to be subbed and took his left shoe off.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) November 3, 2022
Lakers Fans Storm Twitter For Update On LeBron James
Fortunately, James did check back into the game, but fans on Twitter couldn’t help but wonder if Bron is playing through something to help his team avoid a 1-6 hole to start the season.
What’s up with LeBron?
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) November 3, 2022
im ready to give you my foot bro @KingJames
— Thekkapatta Sundari (@kikadoncic) November 3, 2022
NOOOOOO him and AD need rest they don't listen!!!!! https://t.co/LJrd3x5xfN
— ☆▷ 𝙎𝙋𝘼𝘾𝙀𝘿 𝘾𝙊𝙒𝘽𝙊𝙔/ fan account (@solelygoat) November 3, 2022
Had a feeling, that’s why he hasn’t been shooting early on https://t.co/bjQaSu77NS
— swish (@swishsonly) November 3, 2022
Great, here we go with an injury that’ll bother him all season. I hope he actually plays enough games this season to break the scoring record. Would suck if it got pushed to next year https://t.co/ZjgtEFlHfg
— Connor (@connor_n_25) November 3, 2022
We really can't escape injuries anymore https://t.co/dNMOT0YNtt
— O.B🇹🇷 (@Obolatcan24) November 3, 2022
https://t.co/6q26leh79o pic.twitter.com/TEMEIi5ZFp
— dub (@showtimelik) November 3, 2022
It seems like a minor thing for James, especially since he checked back into the game a few minutes later, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been impacting his play on the floor.
Several fans and experts have noticed that James looks a step slow this season. FOX Sports’ Chris Broussard even accused James of stat padding in the loss against Golden State.
“LeBron had 31 [points], 14 [rebounds] and 8 [assists] and had zero impact on the game! I wanna watch a few weeks of these before I declare LeBron’s no longer a top 10 player in the league. Last night, he didn’t look like a top-10 player to me. When the game was in the balance, he was nowhere. He was pacing himself, he wasn’t doing much at times ‘cause of his age. And obviously, he’s not defending as he once did. He’s gonna break Kareem’s record and that’s gonna be awesome. But you can’t look at LeBron’s numbers, just like you couldn’t look at Westbrook’s last year, 18 [points], 7[rebounds], and 7[assists] and say he played well. Anybody who does that, you’re not really watching what’s happening.”
In basketball, stats don’t always tell the full story. For James, although his numbers look solid, he hasn’t looked quite right since the season began.
It’s still far too early to panic, of course, but the Lakers will not get very far if LeBron isn’t playing at his best. And if tonight’s injury scare is any indication of how this season will go, it could spell disaster for the Purple and Gold.
https://twitter.com/_Talkin_NBA/status/1588006304873955329
