LeBron James returned from a nine-day, two-game absence on Sunday to help the Los Angeles Lakers register a 116-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena. James had missed time due to personal reasons and a left foot injury, and gave a bit of a worrying update on the latter postgame.
“Nah, it’s an everyday thing,” James said. “It’s not behind me, it’s an everyday thing. It’s something that’s been lingering for the last few years but I was able to do a lot of great things to reassure not only that but I got kneed in the quad in the Atlanta game at the end of regulation by (Anthony Davis) so that’s now back to a 100%… Like three days ago was still pretty sore but I’m able to get that back to 100, so that was great.”
(starts at 4:34 mark):
LeBron James talks about his return to the court, how he stayed engaged during his time away from the team, and his thoughts on Bronny's recent standout performance with the South Bay Lakers. pic.twitter.com/vqS4Ypw8ii
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 16, 2024
That is quite concerning. We had known about James dealing with right foot injuries in recent years but it appears the left has been bothering him for a while as well.
James’ foot problems really began back on March 20, 2021, in a game against the Atlanta Hawks. He rolled his right ankle under Solomon Hill, who was diving for a loose ball, and missed a total of 20 games.
Then just over a year later on March 28, 2022, James injured his left ankle when he accidentally stepped on now-teammate Jaxson Hayes’ foot in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. That injury led to him missing the rest of the season.
Just under a year later on Feb. 26, 2022, James injured his right foot in a game against the Dallas Mavericks. He stayed in the game despite the injury and that turned out to be a mistake. James missed 13 games in total with it and it was later revealed that he tore a tendon in his right foot. It was thought that he might need offseason surgery but it’s unclear if he underwent one or not.
James finally managed to remain relatively healthy for an entire season in 2023-24, playing in 71 games. LeBron then entered this 2024-25 campaign with the goal of playing all 82 games but the foot issue seemingly flared up following the 134-132 overtime loss to the Hawks on Dec. 6. He also got hit by Anthony Davis at the end of regulation in that game which left him with a sore quad.
James revealed he still could have played against the Portland Trail Blazers in the next game but decided against it after consulting with the medical team. He then chose to sit out against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday too, in order to get a nice little nine-day break.
On his return against the Grizzlies, James recorded 18 points (7-17 FG), eight rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and two blocks. The 39-year-old showed flashes of his best self and it will be interesting to see how he looks moving forward.
James gets another small little break now, as the Lakers next play against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Thursday at 10 PM ET. Any soreness he might have felt following his return should be gone by then.
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