After the Lakers blew a 23-point lead to fall to the Pelicans on Sunday, all eyes were on the status of LeBron James’s injured left ankle.
James finished with 39 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 42 minutes for the Lakers, but he did so after a terrible looking ankle injury that would’ve had most players out for the rest of the game.
A screenshot of the moment James rolled his left ankle shows just how terrible it looked.
James started the game out on fire as he poured in 25 points in the first half, but shot 5-14 in the second half as the team fell to 31-43 on the season and into 10th place in the Western Conference.
“I was going in for an offensive rebound and me and Jaxson [Hayes] basically stepped at the same time,” James said. “He got his foot on the ground before I could get my foot back on the hardwood, and I stepped on his foot and rolled my ankle. … I have no idea how I finished the game to be honest after watching that replay. It’s pretty nasty.”
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James didn’t mince words when asked for a follow-up on how his ankle was feeling,
“Oh, it’s horrible. It’s horrible right now and unfortunately, we’re about to hop on a flight, too, so just gotta get treatment around the clock and see what happens day-to-day, but it’s pretty sore right now,” James added.
With just a one game lead over the 11th-place Spurs with eight games remaining, LA is in serious danger of falling out of the play-in round and missing the postseason entirely.
