Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James could miss several weeks with a right foot injury, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about James’ health
James sustained the injury late in the third quarter of the Lakers’ 111-108 comeback victory against Dallas on Sunday. He finished the game, scoring 26 points but was overheard on ABC telling the Lakers bench, “I heard a pop.”
James, who left Dallas’ arena with a significant limp, is listed as “out” with right foot soreness for Tuesday’s game at Memphis,, and the Lakers have not released additional details. The team is trying to determine the extent of in the injury.
“We’ll monitor it the next couple days, see how it feels and go from there,” James told reporters after Sunday’s game.
James, 38, missed games earlier in the season and has played in 47 of Los Angeles’ 61 games. He has been a steady presence in the lineup since late November and is averaging 29.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists and shooting 50.1% from the field and 30.8% on 3-pointers.
On Feb. 7, James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and at All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City on Feb. 19, James told reporters that the Lakers’ remaining games were the 23 most important regular-season games of his career.
“I hope I can figure out a way to just make sure I’m available for every single night for these 23 games, to give us a chance, give our group chance to be able to compete every night and give us a chance to win every night,” James said.