LeBron James Suffers Hamstring Injury, Set to Miss 1-2 Weeks

Over the past two weeks, it seemed the Lakers were invincible. The team has been playing at an extremely high level, Luke Doncic found his rhythm, and the strong squad stomped over everyone in their path on the way to a eight game winsteak.

However, as the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end. That’s certainly true for Los Angeles, who lost two things during their much-anticipated showdown against the Boston Celtics.

Not only did the game not go their way, but superstar LeBron James left during the fourth quarter with a groin strain.

While the team first hoped the injury would be minor, it seems the star forward is going to miss a significant amount of time.

Mr. Reliable

James is one of the toughest players in the league. Despite his age, and how many minutes he plays a game, he rarely gets injured. In fact, the strong forward has only missed four games all season.

There has been some concern about wear-and-tear on his body due to how much Los Angeles relies on him to win games, but up until the game against Boston nothing had happened.

Now, he’s set to miss at least one to two weeks

The strain occurred midway through the fourth quarter when James attempted to do a series of routine pivots. He moved around as he always does, but then quickly signaled to the bench that he needed to be taken out. He did not return.

The star forward ended the night with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, but not having him down the stretch proved to be too big of a hurdle for the Lakers to overcome.

They fell to their cross-country rivals 111-101

That’s concerning because it shows just how important James is to the team. Even with Doncic putting up incredible stats, the duo is what the Lakers have leaned on over their past few games. Missing such a key piece of that process could soon lead to issues.

A Cautious Approach

The Lakers state that James has a mild groin strain that will keep him sidelined for at least one to two weeks. Such injuries can linger, which is definitely a concern, but they can also heal relatively quickly with proper rest and care.

Los Angeles won’t rush James back, but they want to get him onto the court as soon as the time frame allows.

He’s set to wait for the injury to calm down, then receive a second evaluation before attempting to play again

While fans are understandably nervous at the prospect of losing him, even for a short while, James does not have the same concern. He’s dealt with groin injuries in the past, and says that this one is no different than his other ailments.

“Not much concern,” James said about the injury

“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.”

That sentiment gives reason for optimism, but the organization, including head coach J.J. Redick, has stated there is “obvious concern” as well. It will all become more clear in the next seven days.

Second In Command

While the Lakers’ recent play has jumped them up in the standings, the injury could still not have come at a more difficult time. The team plays six games over the next eight days, which includes contests against both the Bucks and Nuggets.

It seems they’re going to have to rely on Doncic more than ever during that stretch

The ex-Maverick played lights-out basketball during the Lakers most recent win streak, with him and James both making each other better.

Now, he’s going to have to embody the role he had in Dallas by taking over as the sole leader once more

Doncic is a great passer and scorer who can easily rally his teammates around him, but he’s also shouldering a heavy load. This is a great opportunity for him to take over as the face of the franchise.

Getting Tough on Defense

Doncic doesn’t need to win every game with James out. He just needs to win enough so the Lakers aren’t too far down when The King returns.

While it’s unlikely Los Angeles falls all the way to the play-in game in such a short period of time, they could lose a few spots that could determine seeding come playoff time.

They know that, and they know what they have to do in order to stay afloat during James’ absence

It’s all about tightening up, leaning on each other, and out-hustling everyone else they face. If they don’t have the same offensive output, they need to win on the other side of the ball.

“I think we just have to continue to play hard and play defense,” coach Redick said, knowing how critical the next few games will be.

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