LeBron James Was ‘Severely Struggling’ With Foot Injury During Record-Breaking Game

A lingering ankle injury will cost LeBron James a meeting with the Warriors on Saturday after the Lakers superstar was listed as out for the second time since becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. But, according to TNT’s Chris Haynes, a different nagging injury is threatening to impact James as the season continues.

James has been on the Lakers’s injury report due to left ankle soreness throughout the season, and was even listed as questionable with the injury prior to his record-breaking performance against the Thunder on Tuesday. However, according to Haynes, the more pressing concern surrounding James, who did not finish the 133–130 loss, is a foot injury that he was “severely struggling” with during the game.

“It’s something that’s been nagging him for a few weeks already, but it gets to points where it just gets unbearable and he plays through it. And people that talked to me said he was really struggling with that foot,” Haynes said on his podcast, #thisleague UNCUT, with fellow NBA insider Marc Stein.

Haynes then described the injury’s effect on James’s foot before noting that the 38-year-old could continue to battle the ailment for the rest of the season.

“The way it’s explained to me is that sometimes it flares up, different sides of his foot, depending on the cut, the way that he plants certain times … that might be something that lingers all season long, but it reached a dire point,” he added.

Interestingly, L.A. has only listed the ankle injury as the reason why James missed Thursday’s home loss to the Bucks and, now, Saturday’s game in San Francisco. To this point, the team has yet to add a foot injury to James’s injury report.

On the season, James has missed 13 games as he’s dealt with a variety of injuries, but the 19-time All-Star has remained as sharp as ever. In his 44 games played, James has averaged 30.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. 

Entering Saturday, the Lakers (25–31) are the 13th seed in the Western Conference, and 3.5 games behind the Warriors (28–27) for the seventh seed. The club is looking to snap a three-game losing streak and build momentum after losing six of its last ten games.