As we enter the final stretch of the NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers are dealing with an injury to LeBron James. During the primetime clash against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, James exited the game with a groin injury in the fourth quarter. He was then ruled out for one to two weeks. It turns out, however, the 40-year-old superstar's injury may be worse than initially thought.
"LeBron James knows his body better than anybody and he's played a lot of basketball..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 11, 2025
When you have this type of injury you have to manage it properly..
I won't put a timetable on when he'll be back"@RichPaul4 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/fE9nGiuUPE
Lakers Receive Concerning New Injury Update on LeBron James
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, James' agent and friend Rich Paul provided an injury update. Paul said that this was an injury one has to manage properly and refused to put a timetable on LeBron's recovery.
This is a big divergence from the initial reporting of a one to two-week absence. This could potentially suggest that the injury is worse than the initial prognosis revealed.
At the same time, groins are notoriously tricky, and James is a 40-year-old who has played 58 games this season, averaging 34.9 minutes of action. Getting him back on the court without allowing the groin to heal fully would risk further injury.
With the playoffs starting in a little over a month, that is a risk the Lakers shouldn't take. Even though they suffered a disappointing loss to the Nets in their first game without LeBron, the Lakers should be able to weather the storm and hold onto a top-six spot in the Western Conference.
As long as the Lakers don't fall into No. 7, aka the play-in, they will be happy heading into the postseason. They currently have a 4.5-game lead over the seventh-seeded Timberwolves, and Luka Doncic should be able to keep them afloat enough during James' absence to not allow that gap to close.