It appears that the effects of playing 12 of their last 15 games on the road have caught up to LeBron James, as an upper back injury has limited him from practicing and will likely keep him out of Sunday’s return home for the Los Angeles Lakers against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
James is dealing with a “thoracic muscle strain,” according to Kyle Goon of the Southern California News Group. Apparently, it’s something that James was dealing with during the Lakers loss on Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers but he played through it for the Lakers in their showdown against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks.
Frank Vogel says this injury was sustained against Indiana, and LeBron played through it against Milwaukee. https://t.co/0rnOo9tBml
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) December 21, 2019
LeBron has played in every game for the Lakers so far this season and he’s averaging 26 points per game while he’s also averaging a career-high 10.6 assists per game, which leads the NBA. Previously this season, James said that he would play so long as he is healthy but perhaps after the trip, the thoracic muscle issue became too uncomfortable for James to ignore.
It’s also a convenient spot for James to get some more days off from playing ahead of a primetime Christmas Day showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers. After Sunday, the Lakers don’t play again until Christmas.