Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James got into some controversy over the weekend when he announced on Sunday that he would not be playing in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game due to foot soreness. He said he tried to get healthy, but wanted to preserve himself for games with more meaning like the regular season.
Then it was no surprise that he was back in the lineup for the Lakers on Wednesday night against the Charlotte Hornets despite being listed questionable. After all, he did say that he was sitting the All-Star Game in order to be available for the Lakers, and that’s exactly what he did.
James was strong on Wednesday night despite a shocking loss. He had 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for L.A. After the game, he was asked about the foot injury that held him out for All-Star and what his plan is with the injury moving forward.
“JJ talked about it yesterday,” LeBron said. “It’s gonna be something that we gotta manage for the rest of the season and going into the postseason. But I was happy I was able to get some days off and kind of be around the clock and make sure I was available for tonight.”
At 40 years old, it would be unprecedented for James to be completely healthy and not have any issues that needed to be managed throughout the season. Players often have nagging issues that require pain management and treatment as a long NBA season wears on.
But LeBron is still able to be effective when he does play. And while he may need to take a few extra games off from time to time, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves should be more than capable of holding down the fort when that happens.
LeBron James felt good about shot selection in Hornets loss
After a difficult loss to the Hornets, Lakers star LeBron James spoke about the quality of looks he was getting, including two game-tying opportunities in the final seconds.
“I felt pretty good. I felt pretty good. Those last two were pretty good looks,” James said. “The first one was obviously much better than the second one. The second one had to be rushed a little bit. But I had goods looks. We had good looks all night.”
It was clear his foot injury was not necessarily affecting him on Wednesday, but that shots just weren’t falling the way they normally do.
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