Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James won’t be available Friday night when the team takes on the Indiana Pacers. The Lakers ruled James out for the contest due to an elbow injury he sustained late in Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
James, 41, injured his elbow on a hard fall with a little over four minutes left in Thursday’s game.
Following that fall, James was briefly taken out of the contest. He was able to sub back into the game with 2:05 remaining, though was taken out with 22.3 seconds left and the Lakers down five points due to the issue. He did not return before the end of the game, which the Lakers lost 120-113.
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After the contest, Lakers coach JJ Redick said James was removed in the final minute of the game due to discomfort in his elbow. James was spotted icing his elbow after the game, and reportedly wore a compression sleeve on his left arm during the flight back to Los Angeles, per ESPN.
James said he felt “pretty sore” after the game, but classified himself as day-to-day moving forward.
“We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days,” James said. “Hopefully, I’ll wake up [Friday] and it doesn’t feel too much worse than it is now. Or if it feels better, that would be great. So it’s day-to-day. We’ll see what happens.”
Up until the injury, James was in the midst of an historic performance. In the first quarter of Thursday’s game, James set the NBA’s all-time record for field goals made over a career. James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabaar for the honor.
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James finished the contest with 16 points after going 7-for-11 from the floor. With those seven made shots, James now has 15,842 field goals made in his career.
The Lakers have not announced a timetable for James’ return to action. Given his comments following Thursday’s game, and the fact that he doesn’t always play in back-to-backs, it’s possible James could return to the court when the Lakers take on the New York Knicks on Sunday.
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