Will the Lakers’ LeBron James require foot surgery and if so how long will he be out?
In the lead up to their playoff berth, it was clear that the Lakers’ star wasn’t at 100%. Now, the full extent of his injury is clear and it may require surgery.
For some time now, we’ve head reports of James’ struggle with his foot. On the other hand, we’ve also seen him become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer which is to say, forgive us for having doubts that it was a truly serious problem. With that said, it appears the Lakers icon may be set to go under the knife, something that tells us his problem was no trivial matter.
LeBron James could be facing surgery
As if the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t already have enough on their plate after crashing out of the NBA playoffs. Now, it seems that the Lakers’ star, LeBron James, may have to undergo surgery this offseason, after playing through a torn tendon in his right foot, according to reports. It is understood, that James’ foot will be re-evaluated in the coming weeks and should he require surgery, it is expected that he will be unable to play for at least two months.
If you missed it, James originally injured his foot back on February 26th, during a regular season game against the Dallas Mavericks. As he sat on the floor, James could be heard saying, “I heard it pop.” He would go on to miss the next 13 games, before returning on March 26th, at which time he stated that several doctors had suggested that he undergo an operation, which would almost certainly bring an end to his season. As you probably saw, James chose the hard road. Playing every single game for the remainder of the season, James led the Lakers to the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and then in turn all the way to the Western Conference finals. Sadly, the Denver Nuggets proved to be too hot to handle. Indeed, although James averaged 27.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 10 assists per game, the Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets. Following the conclusion of the series, James admitted that his injury had affected his play:
“I knew I could get to the finish line,” James said in a recent interview, before hinting at the possibility that he might retire. “Obviously, I knew I had to deal with it and deal with the pain or deal with not being able to be myself before the injury, but there was nothing that made me feel like I couldn’t get to the finish line. ...I’m going to get an MRI on it and see how the tendon either healed or not healed and go from there. We’ll see what happens.”
What happens with LeBron James now?
The good news here - according to reports - is that regardless of if James has surgery, he will reportedly be ready to go for the beginning of the 2023-24 NBA training camp. Of course, there has been speculation about his possible retirement after he made comments which suggested he was contemplating the idea after Game 4 of the series against the Nuggets. At any rate, nobody close to James has bought into the idea of the NBA icon calling time on his incredible career. That’s to say, we can expect to see the four-time NBA champion back in yellow and purple this season coming. Until then, watch this space.