LeBron James listed as day-to-day with left adductor strain, doubtful vs. Kings
The Lakers avoided the worst-case scenario with LeBron James’ injury on Wednesday, but he could still be out a number of games moving forward.
LeBron James and the Lakers appear to have avoided something of a worst-case scenario with his injury on Wednesday. After limping off the floor and many having flashbacks to his groin injury in the 2018-19 season, LeBron will be listed as day-to-day moving forward, Darvin Ham revealed after practice on Thursday, while also being considered doubtful for Friday against the Kings.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham says LeBron James will be day-to-day with his groin injury. Ham says the MRI showed that James has a strained left adductor. Of note: By virtue of a scheduling quirk, James could take eight days off in this next stretch and only miss two games.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 10, 2022
James may miss home games Friday vs. Kings and Sunday vs. Nets, which would give him and the Lakers eight days off until the next contest (Nov. 18 vs. Pistons) to recover from foot and adductor issues. https://t.co/NSjRH7BCQh
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 10, 2022
If there is a silver lining here, as noted above, the Lakers have a bit of an odd schedule in the next week-plus. On Friday, they will meet the Kings before playing the Nets two days later with both of those games being at home. The team will then have an entire week off without a game again until Friday, Nov. 18 when they host Detroit.
It’s a very beneficial schedule for the Lakers given their current situation. After the Lakers play the Pistons, they will play San Antonio on Sunday before starting a three-game road trip. Ultimately, LeBron could only miss a few games despite being sidelined for over a week.
In recent seasons, LeBron has had various muscle injuries. Last year, an ab strain sidelined him for a number of games on top of the 2018-19 season that was effectively ruined by a groin strain. The problem in each of those seasons was the Lakers not only adjusting to games without James, but also reintegrating him once he returned.
Because of that and a myriad of other obvious reasons, the Lakers really need LeBron back as soon as possible in the coming days and weeks.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.