LeBron James exited Saturday’s much-anticipated rivalry clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics with a groin strain.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the 40-year-old left for the locker room and was soon announced to be ruled out for the rest of the game. He ended his night with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, with the Lakers going on to lose 111-101.
The injury appeared to occur while James made a few pivot moves in the game. He proceeded to signal to be taken out after the following defensive possession, then didn’t return after testing it during a timeout.
This is the play that LeBron seemed to be injured on. He left after the next possession
Based on the overstretch on the pivot I’m worried about his left adductor (groin) pic.twitter.com/p7fG0Twr10
— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) March 9, 2025
Lakers head coach JJ Redick didn’t have any additional details after the game, but conceded there was “obvious concern” about James’ health. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin also reported the initial thought is James will be out weeks rather than days.
However, James didn’t seem to think the injury was that serious afterward. Yet he acknowledged that consulting with trainer Mike Mancias for more tests and imaging was necessary.
“Not much concern,” James said to reporters. “Obviously, we’ll go day-to-day and look at it each day and see if it gets better and then take the proper measures and see what we need to do moving forward.”
LeBron on his groin injury:
“Not much concern…Obviously we’ll go day-to-day and look at it each day and see if it gets better and then take the proper measures and see what we need to do moving forward.” pic.twitter.com/uwHuxxZBaH
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 9, 2025
James added that this injury didn’t feel as serious as the groin injury he suffered in 2018 on Christmas Day, which occurred against the Golden State Warriors. That strain sidelined him for 17 games and lingered through the rest of that season.
“Ive been there before and know what type of injury we’re dealing with,” he explained and said that he expects to stay with the Lakers through the remaining three games of their road trip.
The injury and the loss put a halt to what had been a dream stretch for the Lakers, who entered Saturday with an eight-game win streak after their league-shaking trade for Dončić. The move also seemed to energize James, who went from averaging 24 points per game before the trade to 28.5 in the games since.
A significant James injury would obviously be a blow for the Lakers, who just started a road trip that will also see them face the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets. It would also put more pressure on Dončić to lead a team he joined a month ago.
James has only missed four games so far this season and entered Saturday on track for his most games played in a season since he played all 82 in 2017-18.
