Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is set to be sidelined for an 'indefinite' amount of time as the injury he picked up against the Dallas Mavericks is worse than initially expected.
James could be heard screaming "I heard it pop" as he clutched his right foot during their incredible comeback win against the Mavericks, but played through the pain and helped them to a 111-108 victory. James was seen limping after the game, and according to NBA insider Shams Charania, there's fear that he could be out for an extended period of time.
Charania tweeted: "There's fear Lakers star LeBron James is likely to miss an extended period of time with his right foot injury. James suffered the injury in Sunday's win over Dallas, played through it, and belief is he will be sidelined an indefinite amount."
James posted a story to his Instagram on Monday night, writing "fkn sucks" as he zoomed in on his injured foot. The Lakers were finally starting to look like the real deal, but now they're set to be without James for the foreseeable future.
When James went down in considerable pain against the Mavericks, things didn't look good. The 38-year-old was honest and said he was in pain after the game, but there was a renewed sense of optimism as he still managed to finish the match.
"It's been better, that's for sure," James said when asked about his foot postgame. "But I definitely wasn't going to go to the locker room and not finish the game out tonight.
"Just understood the importance of the game and then with the momentum that we had, I felt like we could still win after being down. We'll monitor it the next couple days, see how it feels and go from there."
But unfortunately, the initial checks have not gone well, and James was quickly ruled out of their upcoming clash against the Memphis Grizzlies. James may miss many more crucial clashes though, with no clear return date just yet.
Following a prolific trade window, things were looking up for the Lakers and momentum was finally on their side. James recently stressed the importance of their remaining games for him personally, let alone for the Lakers' season.
"It's 23 of the most important games of my career, for a regular season,' he said after the All-Star break. "It's the type of mindset that I have, and I hope the guys will have, coming back off the break."
The Lakers are currently 29-32 for the season, and remain 12th in the Western Conference with an uphill battle ahead of them. The Grizzlies were already going to be a tough opponent as they sit in second, and without James, their task is even more daunting.
