LeBron James: Injury update
LeBron James will be out for another week due to his groin injury but has been cleared to be back on the court for drills.
LeBron James had sustained an injury to his left groin by straining it in the game against the Golden State Warriors on Christmas day. While his injury was first classified as a day by day situation, it was later announced that he would be out for a while.
Luckily for the Lakers, things seem to be looking up as LeBron is now back on the court, practicing drill and getting himself back into shape for proper gameplay. The Lakers team medical staff evaluated LeBron's injury on Thursday and released a statement saying, "the healing of James' groin injury is progressing,". Further, they have also confirmed that James has been "cleared to increase on-court functional basketball movements".
Since he has been injured, LeBron James has done little to none in terms of basketball activity. He has only been approved to do some standstill shooting and now drills, hopefully bringing back the movement he lost in his recovery period.
James will not be flying out to Utah on Thursday with the rest of the Lakers who are heading there for a game against Utah Jazz. He will also be missing the home game the Lakers are playing in LA on Sunday against his old home team the Cleveland Cavaliers and the game against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Post this it is not confirmed if he will still be cleared for gameplay or not.
The Lakers have planned to send out another injury report regarding LeBron James next Wednesday. Furthermore, whether or not James is back for the game against OKC, we will have to be cautious to avoid an injury relapse that could keep him out for another few weeks.