LeBron James Suffers Injury During Clippers Game

Christmas day, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers faced off with the crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. The veteran NBA player struggled throughout this battle in the City of Angels, however, after suffering an injury during a play against Patrick Beverley. The incident occurred when Beverley collided with James in the first quarter, kneeing him in the groin.

As James explained during his postgame media availability, this collision made an old injury flare-up. He finished the night with 23 points but also struggled with three-point shots. He missed 10 of these attempts, which is the most in his career. James was also only 9-24 on two-pointers.

“I felt healthy going into the game,” James told reporters, per ESPN. “I got kneed in the groin taking a charge from Pat Bev, and it kind of set me right back to where I was five days ago.”

With a battle against the Portland Trail Blazers on the schedule for Saturday night, there were concerns from Lakers fans about James’ availability for the game. However, he has made it appear possible that he will be in the lineup. Although that decision will be made during warmups.

“To be honest, I haven’t even thought about Portland just yet,” James said. “I’m always around the clock with my body, getting my treatment. If I’m feeling great, I’ll be in the lineup. If I’m feeling well, I’ll be in the lineup. We’ll see what happens.”

As it turns out, not everyone was convinced that James truly suffered the injury against the Clippers. Skip Bayless, co-host of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, said that it was “baloney.”

“This was the most bogus excuse from LeBron James trying to sell this or perpetrate this on the public since he came out for the post-game presser after getting swept by the Warriors in the 2018 Finals with some kind of weird soft cast on his hand,” Bayless said on Thursday morning.

As Bayless continued to say, he doesn’t believe that it was possible that James actually pulled his groin while standing in a “static” position. He could see this injury being listed as a thigh bruise or a contusion due to the hit, but he still believes that the groin injury is just a storyline that the media is pushing.

Whether or not Bayless is correct, there is still a question about whether or not James will be suiting up on Saturday night. He will simply warm up and make a determination prior to the opening tip-off.

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty