UPDATE: LeBron James is probably not going to miss too terribly much time. According to Shams Charnia of The Athletic, James is day-to-day with his groin injury after everything looked alright with his MRI.
Sources @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will be day-to-day after MRI on groin strain.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 26, 2018
MRI returned clean on the four-time NBA MVP LeBron James, league sources said. https://t.co/yphdr6toV3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 26, 2018
EARLIER: LeBron James left the Los Angeles Lakers’ Christmas Day tilt against the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter with a groin injury. While the Lakers were able to stave off the Warriors en route to an impressive win on the biggest regular season day of the year, questions remained about the severity of James injury, as he was caught saying he felt something pop when he got hurt.
Reports indicated that the muscle was intact upon an initial look at the injury, causing everyone with a stake in the Lakers to breathe a gigantic sigh of relief, as things could have been much worse. Still, a report on Wednesday by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports indicates that Los Angeles is not out of the woods yet.
Haynes brought word that the expectation out of the Lakers is that James will have to miss some time, with more clarity coming a little later in the day.
The Los Angeles Lakers are of the mindset that LeBron James’ slight left groin strain will cost the superstar, at minimum, a few games.
The injury, a rare occurrence for the four-time MVP, occurred in the third quarter of the Lakers’ 127-101 victory against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and looked worse than it is, sources close to James told Yahoo Sports.
LeBron James will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to learn the full extent of the injury.
With how tight the Western Conference is right now, going into battle without a player as important as James is a terrifying proposition. Still, the Lakers were able to take down the Dubs in Oracle Arena without him, so perhaps they can handle a few games with James on the sideline.
