Lakers star LeBron James suffered a groin injury against the Celtics. (Elsa/Getty Images)
LeBron James suffered a groin strain Saturday that forced him from the court during the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Boston Celtics and threatens to complicate the team’s push to the playoffs.
Midway through the fourth quarter of Boston’s 111-101 victory over Los Angeles at TD Garden, James sustained the injury while finishing a drive past Celtics forward Jaylen Brown. James headed for the locker room at the next dead ball and did not return, finishing with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in 35 minutes.
“I spun on Jaylen Brown,” James said. “I maybe extended it a little bit too much. When I landed, I felt it. It was the last play I scored on.”
James, 40, suffered a groin strain on Christmas 2018 during a showdown Lakers game against the Golden State Warriors. That injury sidelined him for 17 games across more than a month.
The four-time MVP said Saturday that his latest injury is “not as bad as that” and that there is “not much concern” this time around. Still, even minor groin injuries can lead to weeks-long absences.
“Christmas Day my first year with the Lakers is the first thing that popped to my mind,” James said. “I’ve been there before. I know what type of injury you’re dealing with. ... I’m always trying to see how much mobility or if I could possibly give it a go. I came back [to the locker room] and did a couple of stretches, and I ultimately knew I would be done with the rest of the night.”
LeBron said this is the play in which he injured his groin.
The first thing that came to his mind was the groin injury he suffered in the 2018 Christmas Day game in his first season with the Lakers, but he added that this injury isn't as bad as that one. https://t.co/WOIhlRmPZQ pic.twitter.com/fNB6aQZTIK
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) March 9, 2025
Los Angeles, which had its eight-game winning streak snapped by Boston, finds itself in a dogfight for playoff seeding with a little more than a month remaining in the regular season. The Lakers (40-22) sit a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets (41-22) for the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed, and they holds narrow leads over the Memphis Grizzlies (39-24) and Houston Rockets (39-25) for the No. 3 seed. In other words, a lengthy absence for James could force Los Angeles onto the same side of the bracket as the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and potentially cost the team home-court advantage in its first-round series.
James’s durability has been key to the Lakers’ success this season: He has missed just four games all season, and his strong play over the last two months has coincided with his team’s rise up the standings. Los Angeles is 8-3 when James — who is averaging 25 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game — plays alongside Luka Doncic, who came over in a blockbuster move before last month’s trade deadline.
In James’s absence, the Lakers will lean more heavily on Doncic, who has looked spectacular at times since working his way back from a calf injury that sidelined him for more than a month earlier this season.
“Hopefully it’s nothing,” Doncic said. “Obviously, he’s got to take his time. Those injuries are — I wouldn’t say the worst, but they’re tough to deal with. Just take time.”
James, who earned his 21st all-star selection this season, has played in 58 games and will be an all-NBA first team candidate if he reaches the 65-game minimum requirement. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, the NBA’s reigning MVP, is the only other player averaging at least 25 points, eight rebounds and assists per game this season.
Los Angeles Coach JJ Redick is also juggling injuries to center Jaxson Hayes (knee contusion) and forward Rui Hachimura (patellar tendinopathy) during an especially grueling patch of the schedule.
The Lakers opened a four-game road trip against Boston that will continue with games against the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Nuggets. They also have four sets of back-to-back games in March, and they have eight games against the West’s top six seeds before the regular season concludes April 13.
“Obviously concerned [about James],” Redick said. “We just have to continue to play hard and play defense.”