The Los Angeles Lakers fell short in a dramatic comeback attempt against the Boston Celtics on Saturday night, but the primary focus shifted to 40-year-old superstar forward LeBron James, who exited the game in the final minutes with an apparent groin injury.
Initial reports suggested James could miss several weeks, but on Sunday morning, ESPN's Shams Charania provided a major update on James' status, offering a clearer timeline-though it could change in the next 24 hours.
James is expected to miss at least one to two weeks due to a groin strain. He will rest and allow the injury to settle over the next 24 hours before undergoing another evaluation. While this news isn't ideal, it offers a silver lining for the Lakers, who cannot afford a long-term absence from James, especially as they look toward a potential postseason run.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is expected to miss at least 1-to-2 weeks with a groin strain, sources tell ESPN. James will wait for the groin injury to calm down over the next 24 hours and receive another evaluation. pic.twitter.com/17mWxsaXN3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 9, 2025
James suffered a significant groin injury back in 2018 against the Golden State Warriors. After this latest tweak, he admitted that his mind immediately went to that previous injury, which caused him some concern.
"Not much concern. Obviously we'll go day to day and look at it each day and see if it gets better," James said after the loss. "Take the proper measures and see what we need to do going forward."
He added, "It was the last play. The last score I had on Jaylen Brown. Probably extended it a little too much. Couple of pivots and then when I landed, I felt it. So it was the last play."
"The first thing that popped in my mind was Christmas Day in my first year with the Lakers. I've been there before and I know what type of injury you're dealing with. Second thing I thought about was AD, which is crazy. But I thought about AD. I'm over there just trying to see how much mobility and see if I could possibly give it a go. I came back here and did a couple stretches and a couple of things that let me know I was probably gonna be down for the rest of the night… It's not as bad as [Christmas Day 2018]."
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This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 9:46 AM.